



) H 



l"\ 



,0- 












\^ 















" S ' '' / 

.V. * 









;/ 






<■ 






-7^ 






^\ , N C ^ -/^^ 






0..- .V 



A^^^ 



^ 



0^ 0- ■' " 












'^' .<^' '^^ ^^ 



A' 



vOo 



V^' .-^^" 






<. 



<& 



\ '. 



•""p 



%^ "^ ;. s- ^0 ^ 



>". 






'oo 



.N 



^ 






-^^ 






'^' ■^. , 



^ * /■ C' 



^_ * « , ^ * ' \\^ , , , 



^^, 



V 






-T z: 






^^ ^ , J. -* A 



•it 






-?^ 






^ "-^^ 


v^^ 


; 


x*^ 


^^ 


•>> 






■ „'^ 






,0- 






N, 






0^ 


». ^' 


* "/ 



-^^ 



-\^ 



\ 













o. 



<" 



x^' 



'• ' " . '^> "' ^ " V> s ^ ' ' ' 






V 

-0 N ' _*^" -1^ 



r ,0- 






*" X 



.-^o. 



cP\ 



-'.-^^^ 









^ '^ ■% ^%^- .V 



.;? ;• 



^^ * ., s o > ^0 



3 



■o. %v:>»^ ,# 






.-Js 



0- ^^ '''. '^. '"^" xV o'^^ 



cP- ■ * 






>* 



•f^ 



-^^ .^>^-«,-^b 



"^y- V^ 



^I'xOo^. 






<\^ 



v\ 



.0- 

3^ 



c- ■ 









^ .0-' 






■f^ 



V s^ 



.\-- 



-V .o\' 



<^ A^' * 4' 



^-•.'^. 



iCk^ 



a''*!--,.: 



> ^'^^'-L- 



M. M> 1% ^ JD^ Bh t3> 
S3E (D aDisTD) TB r in>ir : *fp jrgiiTT, 



?^^*^nr;>'''^^-^,^_ I 




gLi KUhliJ r'rom FOINT.I i<A'r 



P1J18L.1SHKB J&T S.CO]PrVEltSK 



*. 



m 



REMARKS 



MADB 



*i 



ON A SHORT TOUR 



BETWEEN 



4i(K 



HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 



iir THE 



AUTUMN OF 1819 



BV THE AVTHOR OF A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ENGLANP, 
HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 



SECOND EDITION, 

WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. 




,yew-hafe:n- : 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY S. CONVERSE. 



1824. 




DISTRICT OF COJ^J^ECTICUT, ss. 

BE n R£iiiEMB£i(£i>, That on the twelfth 
.day of August, in the forty-fifth year of the Inde- 
|;)endcijce of the United States of Ameri(ia, Ben- 
jamin yiLLiMAN, of the said District, hath de- 
posited in this Office the title of a book, the right 
whereoi he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit : — 

«• Remarks made on a short Tour between Hartford and Que- 
"bec, in the Autumn of 1819; by the Author of a Journal of 
"Travels m England, Holland and Scotland. Second edition, 
"with corrections and additions." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, 
entitled, " An Act for the encouras,ement of learning, by securing 
the copies of Maps, Charta and Books, to the authors and propri- 
etors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." 

CHAS. A. INGERSOLL, 

Cltrk of the District of Connecticut. 
A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me, 

CHAS. A. INGERSOLL, 
Clerk of the DiUrict of Connectic\i.!. 



.^ 



vVV 



PREFACE. 

DuRiN(} the excursion, which produced this small 
volume, 1 began, with an intention of sketching a series 
of short articles, in some degree popular and general 
in their character, and still of such a cast as would ad- 
mit of their being thrown, occasionally, into the Ameri- 
can Journal of Science. 

Before the close of the journey, these remarks, al- 
though written hastily, in public houses, and in steam- 
boats, became too extensive for the object first intend- 
ed. For reasons, with wliich it is, perhaps, unnecessa- 
ry to trouble the reader, it has since been thought ad- 
visable to print then), after due revision, in the form in 
which they now appear. 

The geological notices are, with fevv exceptions, pla- 
ced under distinct heatls, and may, without inconven- 
ience, be omitted by those to v.bom they are uninterest- 
ing. But, the geoioirical features of a country, being 
permanent — being intimately connected with its scene- 
ry, with its leading interests, and even with the very 
Ciiaracter of its population, have a fair claim to delinea- 
tion in the observations of a travelier ', and this course, 
however unusual with us, is now common in Europe. 
I regret that my limited time di I not admit of more ex- 
tended and complete observations of this nature, and I 
cannot flatter myself that tliey are always free from 
error. 

The historical remarks and citations have been the 
more extended, from an impression, that less has been 
said by travellers in America, than might h.ave been ex- 
pected, of scenes and events, which, to Americans. I 
conceive, must ever be subjects of the deepest interest. 

The friend, in whose company this tour was made, 
having been in the habit, when tr;;velliug, of t.tking 
h'st}' outlines of interesting portions of scenery, and of 
finish ng them after his return, did, in this instance, the 
same ; and, although when executed, they were not in- 

I* 



4 PREFACE. 

tended for publication, the drawings, which illustrate 
some of the scenes in this work, were, at my request, 
furnished by him. 

The engraver, Mr. S. S. Jocelyn, of New-Haven, a 
young man of twenty, almost entirely self-taught, evin- 
ces talents, deserving of encouragement, and which 
have been highly spoken of, by the first historical pain- 
ter in this cou.itry. 

This little accidental work does not assume the digni- 
ty of a book of travels ; it contains no adventure, and 
claims to be merely a series of remarks, and of state- 
ments officts, respecting some portions of this country, 
and of a neighboring province. 

BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, 

Yale College, August l\th, 1820. 



PREFACE 

TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



The first edition of this book, although a large one, 
having been a good while exhausted, and the inquiry 
for it still continuing, on the part of those who visit 
Lower Canada, and the intervening countries, I have 
consented, at the request of the respectable Individual, 
who undertakes the publication, to revise these " Re- 
marks" for another Edition. 

The principal object has been, to correct a number 
of errors, generally, however, not of primary impor- 
tance, which have been pointed out to me, by the kind- 
ness of several friends and correspondents. To those 
who have sent anonymous communications, I now re- 
turn my thanks, for the candid manner in which they, ae 
well as"^ others, have treated the subject, and I have 
shown'my sense of the value of all these suggestions, by 
adopting them, except in one case, where I have slated 
my authority. — I allude to the death of Baron Dieskau. 

I have not thought it necessary, to add a map, as sug- 
gested by one of my unknown friends, because, the 
country travelled over, is already so well delineated, in 
many maps. 

Since the publication of this book, I have again visited 
the Lakes and the battle grounds, and have therefore, in 
the present edition, interspersed various additional re- 
marks, observations, and notices of historical facts, 
which, perhaps, may be found to add to the value of the 
work, as a pocket companion of travellers. 

Possibly the reader may think it fortunate, that the 
feeble state of my health has prevented these additions 
(rom being still more extended. 



jj PREFACE. 

As this little volume has been recently republis^hedin 
London,* 1 have to regret, that the reprint had not been 
made from the prei-eiit edition, that tour of the plates 
were omitted, and that for the vignette in the the title 
page, a very poor wood cut has been substituted, it 
is but justice however to say, that the four prints which 
have been preserved viz. one of Monte Video — one of 
Quebec, and both those ot Lake George, are beautifully 
executed. 

It may not be improper to add, that besides nume- 
rous expressions of aj;probation, as regards the correct- 
ness of this work, received from intelligent and respect- 
able inhabitants of Canada, 1 have enjoyed the advan- 
tage of the direct revision and correction of two Eny- 
lish Gentlemen, attached to the British army, and I have 
in the present edition, availed myself of all the criti- 
cisms, vvhiclithey have been so kind as to make. 

1 shall venture to close these remarks by an extract 
of a letter from one of these gentlemen. 

" 1 beg leave to make my best acknowledgements, for 
the gratilication I experienced in perusing yo'.ir sketches 
of Canada. The shortnesb of your stay among us, pre- 
vented your entering into those details, on our constitution, 
administration, tone of society, general happiness, virtue, 
agriculture, scenery, geology. &c. which might have 
given occasion for a few more corrections. I consider 
your little work as a most fiiilhrul and spirited transcript 
of the impressions which our rivers, cities, commerce, 
language k.c. and the external coat or surface of our so- 
ciety, make on a transient visitor. Its tendency is 
highly conciliatory and friendly, and it will always be 
quoted as a just and pleasing picture of these countries 
for the year 1820." B^-S. 

Y. C. May, 15, 1824. 

* In a collecliou of voyages nud travels by SirR. Phillips, & Co. 



OONTENTS. 9 

Page. 
Fort Anne ; battle in its vicinity, - - - ITf 

Whitehall; the canal, 180 

Port; sketch of the place, - - 182 
The old man, of the Age of Louis XI V. - - 183 
Lake Champlain ; passage down, - - - 191 

Ticonderoga, 195 

its lines and ruins, its battles, 198 

A night on the Lake, - - . - 205 

Morning scenery ; Plattsburgh, &c, - - 206 

Entrance into Canada, ----- 208 

St. Johns; and departure for Montreal, - - 210 

Montreal; first glimpse of it, - - - - 212 

River St. Lawrence; passage across it, - - 213 

Montreal; first impressions of the place, - - 214 

A public house ; its accommodations, - - 215 

Guests ; their manners, ----- 2l6 

The St. Lawrence; evening scenes on its waters, 217 

day scenes on its waters, and 

* its banks, 219 

Passage to Quebec, 220 

town of Sorel, 221 

Approach to Quebec, .... 227 
Entrance into Quebec, ----- 234 

C tnadian Calash, 237 

Bcauport and Montmorenci ; excursion to those 

places, 238 

Gi;olos;y ijetween Quebec and Montmorenci, - 242 
Fi'Ms of Montmorenci, ----- 244 
S r.v-millsand lumi)er, - > . - - 249 
Quebec and its environs ; view of them from Beau- 
port, - - 262 

Battle of Montmorenci, ----- 255 
F ilis of Ciiaudiere; excursion to them, - - 268 
Projected ro.id to Maine, . ^ . . 277 

Quebec; r!ii>ht view of, and end entrance into it, 278 
Plains of Abraham; death of Wolfe, and 

Montcalm, ... - 279 

Its fortifications, - - - - 291 

Geological andmineraloaiical remarks, 298 to 303 

DeaiiofGeneral Montgomery, - - - - 3C8 

General Arnold's party, - - - - 314 



10 CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Castle of St. Louis, and Death of the late Duke of 

Richmond, _ . - - 317 

General remarks on Quebec, - - - - 32"? 

River St. Lawrence, 337 

Steam-boats, ..-.-- 342 

Dangers of steam-boats, ----- 344 

An incident, 346 

Night scene on the river St. Lawrence, - - 349 

Frederick Pursh, the botanist, (Note) - - 350 

Montreal; the mountain, ... - 351 

Montreal ; Geology and mineralogy of its environs, 355 

Mode of building, - - - - 357 

Beauty of its environs, - - - 359 

Race-course, and racing, - - 360 

Its importance, , - - - 361 

Miscellaneous remarks upon it, - 363 

North-West Company, - - - 371 

Aborigines, ..---- 373 

Ploughing match, ----- 375 

Agricultural dinner, . . - - 376 

History, &c. 380 

Caution to strangers in Canada, - - - 383 

Peculiar mode of extracting teeth, - - - 384 

Catholic worship, - - - - - 286 

French language, ------ 389 

Population ; manners ; costume; villages; 

political situation, &c. - - - 391 

Departure from Canada, - - - - 398 

Plattsburgh bay, 402 

Anecdotes, ------- 404 

Burlington to Hanover, - - - - - 409 

Geology and mineralogy from Lake Champlain, 415 

Hanover, ...---- 416 

Dartmouth College, . - - - 417 

Connecticut river; ride down its banks, - - 4l9 

Geology, 421 

Bellows Falls, - - - - - 422 

Geology and mineralogy, - - - - 424 

Brattleborough, 426 

Geology, &c. 428 

Greenfield, Deerfield, and other towns, to Hartford, 431 

Addenda — historical, &c. . - . - 438 



CONTENTS. 



PRINTS. 

Page. 
Q,uebec from Point Levi, (Vignette on title page) 

Description of this print, - - - 269 
No. 1. Monte Video, from the south rock, (fron- 
tispiece) 

2. Approach to the house, facing page - 16 

Description of No's 1 and 2, - - - 10 
v^ 3. Lake George from the village of Caldwell, 

(facing page) - - - - 148 
'^ 4. Lake George from Fort George, (facing 

page) - - - - - 150 
Description of No's 3 and 4, - • - - 149 
< 5. Approach to Q^uebec from the S. W. (fa- 
cing page) ----- 230 
Description of No. 5, - - - - 229 
^ 6. Part ofQ,uebecfromthewharfj (facing page) 232 
Description of No. 6, - - • - 233 
4 7. Falls of Montmorenci, (facing page) - 248 
Description of No. 7, - - - - 248 
•^ 8. Lumber establishment at Montmorenci, 

and bay of Quebec, ('J'^icing page) - 254 

Description of No. 8, - - - - 253 
/ 9. Quebec, from the mouth of the Chaudiere, 

(facing page) . - - - 272^ 

Description of No. 9, - - - 27^ 



PRINCIPAL TOPICS. 

Monte Video, near Hartford ; description of its 

scenery, ..---- 10 

Middle region of Connecticut ; its scenery and geol- 
ogy, - - - - - - - 17 

Primitive country ; its commencement, - - 28 

Churches,; zeal for building Ihem, - - - 36 



8 CONTENTS. 

Pafe. 

American Inns ; peculiarities in their manners, 32 

Ride to Sandisfield, ----- 35 

Ride to Lenox, ...... 37 

Geology between Sandisfield and Lenox, - - 38 

Lenox; sketch of the place, - - - - 39 

Ride to New-Lebanon, ----- 40 

Shakers ; (heir villao;es, &c. - - - - 41 

Neu'-Lebanon; its mineral spring, - - - 46 

its scenery, - - - - 51 

Ride to Albany, 54 

Geology between New-Lebanon and Albany, - 56 

Albany ; sketch of the place, . - - 58 
Hudson river ; scenery and Geology of its banks 

above Albany, ----- 66 

Horse ferry boat ; a new and singular one, - 68 

Troy, Lansingburgh, and Waterford, - - 69 

Generd Burgoyne's expedition, - - - 71 

Stillwater; house where General Frazerdied, 81 

The battle ground, 96 

Gen. Gates' camp, ----- 97 

General Frazer's grave, - - - - 108 

The last encampniant of the British army, - 113 

The last house of refuse, - - ■ US 

Tlie field of surrender, - - - - ll8 

Reflections and remarks, ... 121 

Stillwater to S.Hidy Hill, 126 

Geolon;y between those places, - - - 128 

FoitEd'.vnrd, - - - - .- - 129 

Murder of Miss M'Crea, - - - - 131 

S;;ndy-Hi!l; massacre there, - - - - 137 

Baker's Falls, - - - - - - 140 

Excnr<ion to Lake George, - - - - 142 

Gteu's Falls, - ^. . ... 142 

Lake George ; prospert from its head, - - 145 

and its environs ; remarks on them, 151 

its battles, - - - - i56 

Fort Williifn Heiuy, - - - - 158 

The bloody pond, *- - - - - 162 

Fort Willi un Henry; the m:'.ssacre there, l63 

Mineralogy and geology of Lake George, - l68 



TOUR, ^c. 



Remarks made, on a short tour, between Hartford and 
Quebec, in the autumn of lQl9' 

IyELAXATION and health, and the gratification 
of a reasonable curiosity, were our immediate mo- 
tives, for undertaking this journey. Quebec was 
our ultimate destination, but we were not disposed 
to neglect interesting intervening objects, and as we 
were unincumbered by business, and travelled by 
ourselves, we were masters in a good degree, of our 
own movements. 

On the twenty-first day of September, we left 

Hartford for Albany. A blustering equinoctial gale, 

had been howling for two days, but without rain, and, 

as a severe drought had long prevailed, clouds of 

dust rose, in incessant eddies, and, driving before a 

j violent wind, filled the atmosphere, and enveloped 

I every object. We were not however prevented by 

I the storm of sand and dust from setting out, nor, by 

■ the rain which soon followed, from proceeding. 

The fine turnpike upon which we commenced our 

journey, was, but a few years since, a most rugged 

uncomfortable road ; now we passed it with ease 

2 



10 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

and rapidity, scarcely perceiving its beautiful undu- 
lations, which, gradually rising, as we receded from 
the Connecticut river, brought us, within an hour 
to the foot of Talcot mountain. 

/^ MONTE VIDEO. 

Afterconstantiy ascending for nearly three miles, 
we reached the highest ridge of the mountain, from 
which a short but steep declivity, brought us to a 
small rude plain, terminated at a moderate distance, 
by the western brow down which the same fine 
turnpike road is continued. From this plain, the 
traveller who wishes to visit a spot called Monte 
Video, remarkable for the extraordinary beauty of 
its natural scenery, will turn directly to the north, 
into an obscure road, cut through the woods, by the 
proprietor of the place to which it leads. The 
road is rough, and the view bounded on the east, by 
the ridge, which, in many places, rises in perpen- 
dicular cliffs, to more than one hundred feet above 
the general surface of the summit of the mountain. 
On the west, you are so shut in by trees, that it is 
only occasionally, and for a moment, that you per- 
ceive there is a valley immediately below you. 

At the end of a mile and an half, the road ter- 
minates at a tenant's house, built in the Gothic style, 
and through a gate of the same description, you en- 
ter the cultivated part of this very singular country 
residence. 

Here the scene is immediately changed. The 
trees no longer intercept your view upon the left, 



rnrninii 







TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND i^UEBEC 11 

and you look almost perpendicularly, into a valley 
ot extreme beauty, and great extent, in the highest 
state of cultivation, and which, although apparently 
within reach, is six hundred and forty feet below you. 
At the right, the ridge, which has, until now, been 
your boundary, and seemed an impassable barrier, 
suddenly breaks off, and disappears, but rises again 
at the distance of half a mile, in bold gray masses, 
to the height of one hundred and twenty feet, 
crowned by forest trees, above which appears a 
tower of the same colour as the rocks. 

The space or hollow caused by the absence of 
the rid^e, or what may be very properly called the 
back hone of the mountain, is occupied by a deep 
lake, of the purest water, nearly half a mile in length, 
and somewhat less than half that width. Directly 
before you, to the north, from the cottage or tenant's 
house and extending half a mile, is a scene of culti- 
vation, uninclosed, and interspersed with trees, in 
the centre of which, stands the house. The ground 
is gently undulating, bounded on the west by the 
precipice which overlooks the Farmington valley, 
and inclining gently to the east, where it is termina- 
ted by the fine margin of trees, that skirt the lake. 
After entering the gate, a broad foot-path, leaving 
the carriage road, passes off to the left, and is carri- 
ed along the western brow of the mountain, until 
passing the house, and reaching the northern e.:?!- 
tremity of this liftle domain, it conducts you almost 
imperceptibly, round to the foot of the cliffs, on 



12 TOUR BETWF.EN HA-RTFOBD AND qUEBEG. 

which the Tower stands. It ihen gradually passes 
down the noith extremity of the lake, where it 
unites with other paths, at a white picturesque build- 
ing, overshadowed with trees, standing on the edge 
of the water, commanding a view of he whole of 
it, and open on every side during the warm weather, 
forming at that season, a delightful summer house, 
and in the winter being closed, it serves as a shel- 
ter for the boat. There is also another path which 
beginning at the gate, but leading in a contrary di- 
rection, and passing to the right, conducts you up the 
ridge, to what is now the summit of the south rock, 
whose top, having fallen off, lies scattered in huge 
fragments and massy ruins, around and below you. 

From this place you have a view of the lake, of 
the boat at anchor on its surface, gay with its stream- 
ers and snowy awning : of the white building at the 
north extremity of the water, and, (rising immedi- 
ately above it,) of forest trees and bold rocks, in- 
termingled with each other, and surmounted by the 
Tower. 

To the west, the lawn rises gradually from the 
water, until it reaches the portico of the house, near 
the brow of the mountain, beyond which, the west- 
ern valley is again seen. 

To the east and north, the eye wanders over the 
great valley of Connecticut river, to an al'most 
Ijoundless distance, until the scene fades away, 
among the blue and indistinct mountains of Massa- 
chusetts. 

^ \ . , . i , / ■ 



^ 



-s-^-f^ *ih t; 






^ 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 17 

of the place, and scarcely a glimpse of the remote 
scenery. Indeed, a full illustration of the beauties 
of this mountain, would require a port folio of views, 
and would form a fine subject for the pencil of a 
master. 

As the beauty and grandeur of this place depend, 
principally, upon certain general facts, relative to the 
geological structure and consequent scenery of the 
middle region of Connecticut, it may not be amiss 
to sketch, in a very general way, what I believe has 
been no where sketched* at all. 



Scenery and Geology of the Middle Region of Con- 
'^ necticut. 

Among the objects which most powerfully arrest 
the attention of a traveller, natural scenery gene- 
rally occupies a distinguished place. No person, 
however heedless in observation, or torpid in feel- 
ing, can fail to experience some degree of interest in 
the features drawn upon the face of the earth by 
the hand of the Almighty, or to preserve some 
recollections of them. Even those whose views 
rise not above their immediate occupations, and 
who contemplate the earth only as a place on which 
they may live and act, and as a reservoir from which 

*Thisis nolong^er true : Mr. Hitchcock in the 7th Vol. of the 
American Journal of Science, &.C. has recently given an interest; 
ing sketch, (1824.) 



18 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

emolument may flow, are still attentive to deep 
sands and rocky defiles, to dangerous bogs and 
marshes, and to mountain chains, when they defeat 
or enhance the toils of cultivation, or oppose for- 
midable obstacles to travelhng. National character 
y often receives its pecuHar cast from natural scenery. 
The hardy mountaineer, at least in the early stages 
of society, instinctively despises and easily subdues 
the soft inhabitant of rich alluvial plains ; and the 
peculiar characteristics of the Scotch Highlander, 
of the Bedouin Arab, and of the Hindu, are derived 
as much from the mountains, the sandy deserts, and 
the luxuriant vallies and plains, which they re- 
spectively inhabit, as from other causes. Natural 
scenery is therefore, always worthy of observation, 
and it will be a never-failing source of delight to 
those, who, though perhaps not themselves painters 
or poets, participate in any degree in their faculties 
and perceptions ; and find in mountains, plains, and 
vallies — in streams, lakes, and woods — in cataracts 
and caverns — in cultivated regions, and in untamed 
solitudes in narrow efiles, and in the boundless 
horizon, ever varying sources of pleasure, and inex- 
haustible topics of admiration and praise. 

Neither should it be forgotten, that the peculiar 
features of every landscape are not fortuitous. Tbe 
pature of the rocks, which, more or less prominent, 
or buried at a greater or less depth, form the firm 
substratum of every country, determines also the 
lineaments of the surface; and although the Arab of 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 19 

the desert, while he looks over his boundless ocean 
of sand, and the Norwegian, while he climbs his 
snowy mountains, is unconscious of this truth, it is 
still an acquisition to every intelligent mind. 

Thus,natural scenery is intimately connected with 
taste, moral feeling, utility, and instruction. 

In no country perhaps, is it more varied than in 
North America, and it constantly bears a close rela- 
tion to the geological structure of the different re- 
gions. Even in so limited a country as Connecti- 
cut, there are features so widely dijSferents as hardly 
to escape the observation of the most negligent trav- 
eller. The greater part of this state being compos- 
ed of primitive formations, exhibits the usual aspect 
of such countries, and is, with few exceptions, (and 
those relating principally to the alluvion of rivers 
and of the sea shore,) hilly or mountainous. 

In most parts of Connecticut, the traveller passes 
a succession of hills and hollows, bounded by large 
curves, sometimes sinking deep and rising high, so 
as to create great inequality of surface — ascents and 
dascents frequently arduous; but rarely, except at 
fissures and chasms, exhibiting h gh naked precipi- 
ces of rock. 

But, the hills and mountains are not all s"milar in 
their outline, and, in one region in particular, the 
physiognomy of the country is very peculiar. 

At New-Haven, commences the region of se- 
condary trap or greenstone, referred to above. It 
completely intersects the state, and the state of 



20 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Massachusetts, like a belt, and even passes to the 
confines of the states of Vermont and New-Hamp- 
shire. 

Through the whole extent of this district, as in a 
great valley among the ridges, the Connecticut river 
flows, except below Middletown, near which the 
river passes through a barrier of primitive country, 
which continues uninterruptedly to the ocean, a dis- 
tance of twenty-five or thirty miles. 

In the mean time, the trap region passes off in a 
direction south-westerly, and obliquely, with re- 
spect to the Connecticut river, and to the sea coast : 
it intersects parts of Durham, Guilford, and Branford, 
and unites again with the primitive in East-Haven, on 
the eastern side of New-Haven harbour. There, 
near the light-house, granite ledges are found conti- 
guous to, although not, (as yet,) in absolute contact 
with the trap. 

The other boundaries of this region of second- 
ary trap or greenstone, (as it is more frequently 
called, msly be thus stated, with sufficient accuracy. 
The primitive forms the western termination of 
New-Haven harbour, and proceeding northerly, 
through parts of the towns of Woodbridge, Chesh- 
ire, Wolcott, Bristol, Burlington, Canton, and Gran- 
by, crosses into Massachusetts by South-IIampton, 
Northampton, Hatfield, Deerfield, Greenfield, and 
Bernardston, and terminates very nearly at the Ver- 
mont line. Returning, on the eastern side, this re- 
gion is bounded by parts of Nortlificid, Montague, 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 21 

Leveret, Pelham, Belchertown, Granby, kc. and 
passing into Connecticut at Somers — it is bounded 
by parts of Ellington, Vernon, Bolton, Glastenbury 
and Chatham : at this latter place H; again strikes 
the Connecticut river a little below Middletown, 
where this sketch commenced.* 

This region is more than one hundred miles long, 
and varies in breadth from three miles to twenty- 
five. Its basis is composed of stratified rocks, in- 
clined to the east generally at a small angle to the 
horizon ; sand stone is the most conspicuous of 
these rocks, and it has every variety, from very 
fine grained to coarse ; sometimes the rock is a 
breccia, ora pudding stone, or a mere conglomerate. 
Generally, beneath the sand stone we find varieties 
of slaty rocks, sometimes impressed with vegeta- 
bles and fish, and containing small veins of jet and 
coal. 

The most conspicuous feature of this region is 
composed of the fine ridges of greenstone trap, 
which pervade it, generally in the direction of its 
length, and reach from the sea-shore at New-Haven, 
with little interruption, to Greenfield and Gill, in 
the northern part of Massachusetts. 

These ridges of greenstone repose almost univer- 
sally upon sand stone, f and as this rock is by the 

*I am indebted to Mr. Hitchcock's geological rtiap ('see Amcr. 
Journ. of Science, vol. 1, p. 109,) for a part of these boundaries. 

t The. only exceptions that I am acquainted with, are thos« 
mentioned by Mr. Hitchcock in the Amei ica^ Journal of Scieace, 
vol. 1, p. 109. 

3 



22 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND q,UEBEC. 

consent of all, regarded as a secondary formation, 
proceeding from the ruins of other rocks, it follows, 
of course, that whatever rock reposes upon it, must 
also be secondary. Hence, these greenstone ran- 
ges are called secondary. The rock is called green- 
stone, from its having, generally, a dark bottle green 
colour, and trap, from its being often in the form 
of steps or stairs — the word trap, in the Swedish 
language, from which it is derived, having this sig- 
nification. The constituents of the greenstone trap, 
are, generally, the mineral called hornblende, for 
its basis, with feldspar intimately blended, sometimes 
visibly, and sometimes even in distinct crystals. — 
This rock is not hard, but it is very difficult to break 
— is sonorous — endures the weather very well, and 
forms an ext client material for building. 

But the most striking circumstance to a traveller, 
is, the peculiar physiognomy imparted to this re- 
gion by the rocks of which we are speaking. Gen- 
erally, throughout the district whose boundaries 
have been sketched, the greenstone mountains 
rise in bold ridges — stretching often, league after 
league, in a continued line — or with occasional in- 
terruptions — or in parallel lines — or in spurs and 
branches. One front (and generally it is that which 
looks westerly,) is, in most instances, composed of 
precipitous clilFs of naked frowning rock, hoary with 
time, moss-grown, and tarnished by a superficial 
decomposition. This front is a perfect barrier, look- 
ing like an immense work of art, impassable in most 



TOUll BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 23 

places, composed frequently of ill formed pillars,* 
standing side by side, and receding one behind an- 
other, at different elevations, like rude stairs. These 
pillars terminate, at last, in a regular ridge, well de- 
fined, like the top of a parapet, and generally crown- 
ed with trees, which, at the elevation of from two 
or three, to seven or eight hundred (eet, form a beauti- 
ful verdant fringe, often of evergreens, which is finely 
contrasted with the rocky barrier below. Although 
this is the general form of these hills, some of them 
are conical, or of irregular shapes ; but the barrier- 
form is so common, that, in many parts of this dis- 
trict, the country seems divided by stupendous walls, 
and the eye ranges along, league after league, with- 
out perceiving an avenue, or a place of egress. 

Most of the ridges are parallel, and it is when 
travelling at their feet, that one is most forcibly 
struck with their castellated appearance. In some 
parts of the district, it is impracticable, for many 
miles, to find a passage for a road, or for a stream ; 
and both, when they cross the direction of the ridg- 
es, are wound through narrow rocky defiles, often 
singularly picturesque and wild, with their lofty im- 
pending cliffs, and with their fallen ruins. Indeed, 
the immense masses of ruins which, both in this dis- 
trict, and in the similar districts of other countries, 
are collected at the feet of the greenstone ridges, 

* In some places, as on the front oi Mount Holyoke, near North- 
ampton, they are regular pillars, like those of the Giant's Cause- 
way. 



24 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

form a very striking obect. Often tbey slope, with 
a very sharp acclivity, half, or two thirds of the way 
up the nnountain, and terminate only at the rocky 
barrier; the ruins are composed of masses of every 
size, from that of a pebble, which may be thrown 
at a bird, to entire cliffs and pillars, of many tons 
weight, which, from time to time, fall, with fearful 
concussion, into the vallies. This kind of rocky 
avalanche is so common among the greenstone 
mountains, that it is often heard, and sometimes, in 
the stillness of night, by those who Jive in the vicin- 
ity. 

The cause is obvious. The greenstone rocks 
are often composed of contiguous, separate pillars 
or portions, connected only by juxta-position, and 
severed by fissures both vertical and horizontal ; 
into the former, the rain and snow water filters ; 
and when it freezes, the rocks are, by the well 
known and irresistible expansion of the congealing 
water, strained asunder, and whenever, either by 
the gradual undermining, produced by the weather, 
or by the stone diggers, who fearlessly work under 
the impending cliffs, their centre of gravity ceases 
to be supported, they come thundering down, like 
the Alpine glaciers, and strew their ruins beneath. 

The two bluffs at New-Haven, called the East 
and the West Rock, have been (especially the for- 
mer,) in a great measwre despoiled of their ruins, 
and, to some extent, even of their columns, in order 
to supply the dcmaids of architecture; but inmost 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 25 

parts of the greenstone region of Connecticut and 
Massachusetts, the venerable piles are undisturbed, 
and the hoary columns, tempest-beaten for ages, 
stand, the durable monuments of other times. 

On the side of the greenstone ranges, opposite 
to that which presents a mural front, there is gene- 
rally a gradual slope ; often not of difficult ascent, 
and covered with trees and verdure, so that a trav- 
eller coming first upon the front, or the rear, would, 
if unaccustomed to such mountains, have no correct 
idea of the opposite side. 

Such are the outlines of the scenery, and of the 
rocks upon which it depends, in the middle region 

of Connecticut. 

It enables us to understand the peculiarities of '0 
the beautiful and grand scenery of Monte Video, 
which makes this villa, with its surrounding ob- 
jects, quite without a parallel in America, and prob- 
ably with few in the world. 

To advert again, briefly, to a few of its leading 
peculiarities. It stands upon the very top of one 
of the highest of the greenstone ridges of Connecti- 
cut, at an elevation of more than one thousand, two 
hundred feet above the sea, and of nearly seven hun- 
dred above the contiguous valley. The villa is al- 
most upon the brow of the precipice ; and a traveller 
in the Farmingtoii valley sees it, a solitary tenement, 
and in a place apparently both comfortless and inac- 
cessible, standing upon the giddy summit, ready, he 
would almost imagine, to be swept away by the 

3* 



26 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QfEBEC,, 

first blast from the mountain. The beautiful crys- 
tal lake is on the lop of the same lofty greenstone 
ridge, and within a few yards of the house ; it pours 
its superfluous waters in a limpid stream, down the 
mountain's side, and affords in winter the most pel- 
lucid ice that can be imagined. Arrived on the top 
of the mountain, and confining his attention to the 
scene at his feet, the traveller scarcely realizes that 
he is elevated above the common surface. The 
lake, the Gothic villa, farm house and offices, the 
gardens, orchards, and serpentine walks, conduct- 
ing the stranger tlirough all the varieties of moun- 
tain shade, and to the most interesting points of 
view, indicate a beautiful but peaceful scene ; but, if 
he lift his eyes, he sees still above him, on the north, 
bold precipices of naked rock, frowning like ancient 
battlements, and on one of the highest peaks, the 
tall tower, rising above the trees, and bidding defi- 
ance to the storms. If he ascend to its top, he con- 
templates an extent of country that might consti- 
tute a kingdom — populous and beautiful, with vil- 
lages, turrets and towns ; at one time, he sees the 
massy magnificence of condensed vapour, which re- 
poses, in a vast extent of fog and mist, on the 
F^rmington and Connecticut rivers, and defines, 
with perfect exactness, all their windings ; at anoth- 
er, the clouds roll below him, in wild grandeur, 
through the contiguous valley, and, should a thun- 
der storm occur at evening, (an incident which eve- 
ry season presents.) he would view with delight, 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 27 

chastened by awe, the illuminated hills, and corres- 
ponding hollows, which every where, fill the great 
vale west of the Talcott Mountain, and alternately 
appearand disappear with the flashes of lightning. 

Descending this mountain to the west, the travel- 
ler is powerfully struck with the view of the enor- 
mous masses of greenstone rock, which lie in con- 
fusion upon the slope of the mountain. They are 
the largest masses of this kind of rock, that I have 
any where seen. One of them is twenty-five feet 
in diameter. They lie in every form of disorder — 
alone, or piled one on another, and plainly evincing, 
agreeably to the general fact in every country, 
where greenstone mountains abound, that they, 
more than almost anv other, cover their declivi- 
ties with fallen ruins ; that in some period of antrr 
quity, the contiguous ridges were vastly more ele- 
vated than at present, and that these dissevered 
masses, cleaving off from the ridges to which they 
were attached, were precipitated with irresistible 
violence, down the side of the mountain, till they 
found a resting place in solitudes, then trod only by i 
the wild beasts, or by the savage aboriginals. » m ^ 

Alluvial* country succeeds to the Talcott moun- 
tain, and for miles, we pass over gentle undulations 
abounding with water- worn pebbles. 

The red sand stone which every where in Con- 
necticut, as well as in many other countries, forms 
the basis of the greenstone mountains, makes its 

* &uch tracts as this are now called diluvial. 



29 TOUR BETWEEN HARtFORD AND QUEBEC. 

appearance in various places, and constitutes, along 
with this species of trap, the most common building 
stone of the country; 



COMMENCEMENT OF THE PRIMITIVE COUNTRY. 

At the distance of thirteen miles from Hartford, 
we crossed the first ridge of gneiss. This is a part 
of the great barrier of primitive rocks which, as I 
have already stated, bounds the secondary region of 
Connecticut on the west, and in a moment, charigeg 
both the geology and the picturesque features of the 
country. 

It is worthy of remark, that the primitive coun- 
try, on the eastern side of the Connecticut river, 
comes in at nearly the same distance from Hartford 
as on the western side. As we ascend the Bolton 
hill, going towards Norwich, we come to the prim- 
itive rocks, which there, are mica slate, filled with 
garnets and staurotide. I suppose these two boun- 
daries of the primitive, are therefore about twenty- 
five miles apart. Generally, the boundary of primi- 
tive which limits the great secondary greenstone re- 
gion of Connecticut, already described, is distinguish- 
ed by the contour of the hills, which is rounded, and 
they are commonly of greater elevation than the 
ridges of trap or greenstone. Thus it is impos- 
sible, for a traveller to go through the length of 
Connecticut, without traversing its secondary green- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,tTEBEC. 29 

stone region. As he descends from the high 
rounded primitive hills, on either side, he will 
be struck with the distinct ridges of greenstone 
rock, and with the long and often narrow vallies 
between them. Mount Holyoke and mount Tom, 
near Northampton, and the blue hills of Meriden,are 
parts of these greenstone mountains. The State's 
prison of Connecticut, or Newgate, is in one of these 
ranges, or rather in the sand stone which lies under 
it, and from this prison to New-Haven a distance of 
fifty or sixty miles, one rides almost at the foot of a 
nearly uninterrupted barrier of greenstone, frequent- 
ly from four to seven or eight hundred feet high. 
It is amusing to observe how immediately the mate- 
vials of the fences and of the buildings, as far as they 
are constructed of stone, change as soon as the geol- 
ogy of the country changes. For some miles, after 
we left the Talcott mountain, the materials of these 
structures continued to be fragments of greenstone 
and of sand stone ; but, as soon as we crossed the 
line of the primitive, these stones disappeared, and 
gneiss and other primitive rocks began to exhibit 
themselves in the houses and fences. Thus, these 
structures become in some measure, cabinets of the 
geology of a country, for, the people will of course 
collect those stones for use, which are most preva- 
lent, and in many instances, they will be loose frag- 
ments of the most prevailing rocks ; or, if the stones 



30 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

be obtained by quarrying, (hen they become still 
surer criteria of the nature of the country. 



ZEAL FOR CHURCHES. 

In the valley of Northington we passed a beauti- 
ful new meetinghouse. It is a handsome specimen 
of architecture, and is one of three places of public 
worship, recently erected in this little parish, which, 
a short time since, had only one miserable ruinous 
house, situated in the midstof a forest* 

I once attended public worship there on a pleas- 
ant but warm summer sabbath. The house was al- 
most imbowered in ancient forest trees ; it was 
smaller than many private dwelling houses — was 
much dilapidated by time, which had furrowed the 
gray unpainted shingles and clapboards, with many 
water-worn channels, and it seemed as if it would 
soon fall. It was an interesting remnant of prime- 
val New-England manners. The people, evident- 
ly agricultural, had scarcely departed either in their 
dress or manners, from the simplicity of our early 
rural habits. I do not mean that there were no ex- 
ceptions, but this was the general aspect of the 
congregation ; and, from the smallness of the 
house, although there were pews, it seemed rath- 
er a domestic than a public religious meeting. 
The appearance ofthe minister was correspondent, 
to that of the house and congregation, as far as an- 



^OUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 31 

tiquity and primeval simplicity were concerned, but 
he was highly respectable for understanding, and 
sustained, even in these humble circumstances, the 
dignity of his station. He was an old man, with 
hoary locks, and a venerable aspect, a man of God, 
of .other times — a patriarchal teacher — not caring 
for much balanced nicety "of phrase, but giving 
his flock wholesome food, in sound doctrine, and 
plain speech. His prayers had that detail of peti- 
tion — that specific application, both to public and 
private concerns, and that directness of allusion, to 
the momentous political events of the day, and their 
apparent bearing upon this people, which was com- 
mon among our ancestors, and especially among the 
first ministers, who brought with them the fervor of 
the times when they emigrated from England. 

This aged minister is still living, but since the 
destruction of his ancient house, and the division of 
his people, he is without any particular charge ; still, 
however, although oppressed with the infirmities of 
advanced life, he occasionally officiates in public. 
Instead of the ancient house, there have now arisen 
the three handsome modern churches. 

We are not, however, to infer that increased re- 
sources, nor additional zeal for religion has reared 
these edifices; it was the effect of local jealousies, 
as to the place where a new house should be built, 
and how often, in our New-England villages, do 
we see this circumstance produce the same result, 
adding to the beauty, but, perhaps, not always to 
the harmony and piety of the neighbourhood- 



32 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

It would be easy to give a considerable list of 
towns in Connecticut, where two spires rise instead 
of one, because the people could not agree where 
the one should be placed. Happier would it be, if 
these separations had always been free from animos- 
ity — if they had not sometimes laid the foundation 
of permanent discord, and if there had been no in- 
stance of outrageous violence, and the prostration of 
all law and order, while people were professing only 
to honor their Maker, and to benefit their fellow 
men. But still, who that is friendly to the best in- 
terests of mankind can fail to be gratified, with the 
constant succession of churches and spires which he 
observes in Connecticut, and who would not prefer 
the active interest that is manifested on this subject, 
although attended with occasional irregularities — to 
that apathy which permits a land to remain without 
temples to the living God, and rarely salutes the ear 
with the sound of " the church going bell?" 

Passing through a part of Canton, we arrived in 
a cluster of houses, handsomely situated on the 
Farmington River. 



PECULIARITIES IN THE MANNERS OF AMERICAN 

INNS. 

This was a part of New-Hartford where we din- 
ed pleasantly; every thing was good, and neatly and 
well prepared, and we were attended by one of 
those comely respectable young women, (a daugh- 
ter of the landlord,) vvho, so often, in our public 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTEOKD AND QUEBEC. 33 

houses, perform these services, without departing 
worn the most correct, respectable, and amiable de- 
portment. 

This is a peculiarity in the manners of this coun- 
try which is not at once understood by a foreigner, 
and especially by an Englishman. Such a person, 
if uninstructed in the genius of the country, almost 
of course presumes, that all those whom he sees in 
,, public houses are in servile situations. If he adopt 
litowards them an imperious and harsh manner, he 
'rgives offence, and produces coldness, and possi- 
jlbly resentment, so that the interview ends in mu- 
litual dissatisfaction. If the traveller should write 
;iabook, he, of course, enlarges on the rudeness of 
I'American manners, and it is very possible that even 
the servants of our inns may give him some oc- 
casion for such remarks, if ihoy are treated as per- 
sons of their condition commonly are in Europe. 
Some years since, to an Englishman emigrating to 
America, the obvious causes which often disgust the 
English, and oifend the Americans when the former 
are travelling among the latter, and especially in the 
smaller towns and villages, were faithfully pointed 
Dut. It was strongly recommended to him, rather 
j:o ask as a favour, what he had a right to command 
is a duty — to treat the heads of the public houses, 
ivith marked respect, and their sons and daughters, 
ivho might be in attendance, and even the servants, 
vith kindness and courtesy, avoiding the use of 
iJcrrHsand epithets which might imply iiiferioiiiv 

4 



34 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOKD AND QUEBEC. 

and servitude, to make their duties as light as pos- 
sible, to manifest no unpleasant peculiarities, and 
to make no unreasonable demands, with respect 
to food, wines and cookery. He was assured, 
that with such a spirit, he would be treated with j 
respect and kindness — that he would be cheerfully 
served — that the best the house afforded would be 
promptly obtained by him, and should he ever visit j 
the same house again, that he would probably here- 
membered and welcomed with cordiality. It was sug- 
gested, that he must indeed, occasionally, concede 
something to familiarity and curiosity, but that with 
an amiable spirit and courteous deportment, he would 
not meet with rudeness or neglect, or have occa- ' 
sion to write an angry sentence concerning the Ame- 
ricans ; and he was told, that even the familiarity and , 
curiosity which are sometimes unpleasant, would be 
commonly re paid, by the communication of valua- 
ble local information. 

As the gentleman to whom these remarks were 
addressed, was gay, and had been a military man, 
he was cautioned not to presume that any members, j 
of the families at the public houses, might be treat- i 
ed with levity, for, he would find that fathers and 
brothers were at hand, and pecuniary considerations 
would be sacrificed, at once, to the respectability of 
the house. After this gentleman had travelled four- 
teen months in the United States, he came to the ^ 
town, where his adviser resided, and thanked him 
for his cautions. He said that they had been of the 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 36 

greatest service to him, that he had found the pre- 
dictions fully verified, and himself treated with hos- 
pitality and kindness, while he had seen others of 
his countrymen, pursuing an opposite deportment, 
meet with very unpleasant treatment, and creating 
both for themselves and others_, perpetual dissatis- 
faction. 



RIDE TO SANDISFIELD. 

In the afternoon, during a ride of sixteen miles, 
which brought us to Sandisfield, in Massachusetts, 
we never left the banks of the Farmington river, 
which, owing to its windings, and our own, we 
crossed during the day, no fewer than seven times, 
and on as many bridges. We had now left the Al- 
bany turnpike, and the great thoroughfare of popu- 
lation and of business, and purposely deviated into 
one of those wildernesses, which, intersected by 
roads, and sprinkled with solitary houses, afford the 
ij traveller an interesting variety, and easily transport 
him back in imagination, to the time when the whole 
of this vast empire was a trackless forest. In a very 
hilly and almost mountainous region, we found a 
delightful road, so level, that our horses hardly ever 
broke their trot; the road generally followed the 
river, and was laid out with few exceptions, oa the 
alluvial bottom, which the river had formed. We 
passed almost the whole distance, through a vast 
defile in the forest, which every where hun^ around 



'SG TOUK BETWEEN WARTFOHD AND QUEBEC. 



US in gloomy grandeur, presenting lofty trees, rising^ 
in verdant ridges, but occasionally scorched and 
blackened by fire, even to their very tops, and 
strongly contrasted with the cliffs and peaks of rude 
rocks, which here and there, rose above the almost 
impervious forest. 

This tract of country had the stillness of a rural, 
scene, imbosomed in mountains; there were no 
villages, and the (ew scattered farm houses were 
scarcely near enough, even for rural neighbourhood. 
Their very graves were solitary : little family cem- 
eteries several times occurred, marked by white 
marble monuments, and by graves covered with 
the richest verdure, while the gloomy bier stood, 
hard by, in the field, ready again to support its mel- 
ancholy burden. 

It was quite dark before we arrived at Sandis- 
field; wind, rain and gloomy portentous clouds, 
driving over the dark hills, might have made our 
ride, for a few of the last miles, somewhat anxious, 
but, our road was good, and the welcome light of 
the inn, at length caught our eyes, and a quiet eve- 
ning, passed with our pens and books, beguiled our 
time till the hour of repose. A tolerable house was 
made comfortable, by the assiduity and kindness of 
its tenants, and our sleep, in a great vacant ball 
room, was not much interrupted by the rain, drop- 
ing on the floor, and by the wind, howling through 
broken pane? of glass. 

Sandisfield is thirty-six miles from Hartford- 



TOUR BETWEEN HarTFORD AND QUEBEC. St 

RIDE TO LENOX. 

Our equinoctial storm still continued, and we set 
forward before eight in the morning, in the midst of 
a driving rain. But, as the coachman was wrapped 
in a weather proof great coat of oiled silk, and we 
were completely protected from the rain, we pursu- 
ed our journey, without the slightest inconvenience. 

The war of the elements corresponded very well 
with the wild scenery through which we were to 
pass. For ten miles, we again followed the course 
of the Farmington river; our road was one contin- 
ued vista, through an uninterrupted wilderness of 
the most lofty trees ; occasionally, the wide forest- 
crowned ridges caught our eyes, as they showed 
themselves through the openings of the wood, or 
towered above its top ; but, for the most part, the 
river, now much diminished in size, murmuring 
over a rocky channel, and presenting many a formi- 
dable barrier of drift wood, recently accumulated 
by an unexampled deluge of rain, was a principal 
object of contemplation; while the forests, inter- 
spersed with numerous pine trees, rising to a great 
height, often burnt to their very summits, and totter- 
ing to their fall, appeared, as if, only recently inva- 
ded by man, and as just beginning to resign its soli- 
tary dominion, to the axe and to the fire. 

The river, we crossed again and again, till we 
numbered the ninth time, and then, a few miles from 

the confines of Lenox, we traced it to its source, in 

4* 



38 TOUR BETWEEN' HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

a lake, of probably half a mile or more in length. 
Thus we bade adieu to our Kttleriver, after having 
been familiar with it for fortymiles, and for near- 
ly thirty, we had constantly travelled upon its 
banks, finding a smooth road in the midst of a rug- 
ged country. 

To those who would wish to enjoy an interlude 
/ of forest scenery, almost in the wildness of nature, 
and little more subdued by man, than is necessary 
to render it comfortable to travel through, this ride, 
from New-Hartford through Sandisfield, to Lenox, 
may be strongly recommended. Such a tract, in 
the midst of well cultivated regions, is in this coun- 
try rare, and probably more resembles a western 
wild, than a district in an old and populous state. 
Soon after passing this lake, the country began to 
descend; another lake of greater magnitude occur- 
red on our left — a river soon succeeded, and we 
recognized these waters, as the first of those which 
begin to feed the infant Housatonick. 



GROLOGY. 

The rocks on our ride, were, almost invariably, 
gneiss, frequently intersected by distinct veins of 
granite, in which feldspar generally predominated. 
Not far from Lenox we passed two forges, the iron 
ore for which we were informed, is dug out of the 
hills in the vicinity of that town. 






rOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD JVND QUEBEC. 33 

As we ascended the hills on which Lenox stands, 
white primitive limestone began to appear, in de- 
tached masses, in spots uncovered by quarrying, and 
in ridges crossing the road ; the strata were nearly 
vertical, and like those in Litchfield county, in Con- 
necticut, were imbedded in gneiss. 



LENOX. 

Lenox, the capital of Berkshire county, is a town 
of uncommon beauty. It is built upon a high hill, 
on two streets, intersecting each other nearly at 
right angles ; it is composed of handsome houses, 
which, with the exception of a few of brick, are 
painted of a brilliant white ; it is ornamented with 
two neat houses of public worship, one of which is 
large and handsome, and stands upon a hill higher 
than the town, and a little removed from it. It 
has a jail, a woolen manufactory, a furnace for hol- 
low ware, an academy of considerable size, and a 
court house of brick, in a fine style of architecure ; 
it is fronted with pillars, and furnished with conven- 
ient offices and a spacious court room ; this room is 
carpeted, and what is more important, contains a li- 
brary for the use of the bar. Lenox has fine moun- 
tain air, and is surrounded by equally fine mountain 
scenery. Indeed, it is one of the handsomest of our 
inland towns, and even in the view of an European 
traveller, (who had eyes to see any thing beautiful, in 
what is unlike Europe,) it would appear like a gem 



/ 



40 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

among the mountains. There are probably about 
70 houses, stores, and shops. Its population is one 
thousand three hundred and ten.* 

White marble is often the material of their steps, 
foundations and pavements. This country abounds 
with primitive white limestone. 

Our dinner and treatment at the inn, were such as 
a reasonable traveller would have been very well 
satisfied with, at a country tavern in England. Still, 
probably no small town in England is so beautiful 
as Lenox, nor have the Europeans, in general, any 
adequate idea of the beauty of the New-England vil- 
lages.f — Lenox is fifty-eight miles from Hartford. 

RIDE TO iNEVV-LEBANON. 
As we ascended a mountainous ridge, two miles 
on the road to New-Lebanon, a fine retrospect oc- 
curred. Lnmediately below, was a spacious and 
deep basin, environed by mountains, which, reced- 
ing one behind another, presented in one view, bril- 
liant forest green, in another, dark hues, almost 
black, and farther off, ridges and summits struggling 
through clouds and mist, and rain, in obscure and 
gloomy grandeur. Beautifully contrasted with 
these, was the bright clustre of buildings in Lenox, 
compact, blended by perspective int»one rich group, 

* Worcester's Gazetteer. 

t "There is nothing; in Britain that bears any resemblance to a 
New England town, and it is not easy to convey an adequate idea 
af its singular neatness." — Diin<(tn''s Tra»els in the United Stales, 
&c. 1C23. Vol. l.p. 93. 



rOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 41 

in which turrets, and Gothic pinnacles and Grecian 
columns were conspicuous, decorating the declivity 
of the hill, now sunk by comparison, to one of 
, moderate elevation. 

It were in vain to attempt to describe all the fine 
mountain scenery, which, with endless variety, was 
perpetually occuring and perpetually changing. 
Rich vallies and basins, were every where, mixed 
with the hills and mountains, on whose declivities 
and summits, cultivation had often spread scenes of 
fertility and beauty. 

The lofty Saddle mountain with its double sum- 
mit — the highest mountain in this region, appeared 
at a distance on our right ; — on our left, the fertile 
vales of Richmond, a scattered agricultural town, aad 
almost before we were aware of it, we wound our 
way down the steep declivity of the mountain, which 
bounds the southeast side of the vale of New-Leb- 
anon. We had already passed upon our right, a 
small village belonging to the people, called Sha- 
kers, or Shaking Quakers- 



VILLAGE OF THE SHAKERS. 

We did not deviate into this first settlement, be- 
cause their principal establishment, in this quarter, 
was immediately before us, and we were indeed not 
fully clear of the mountain, before we found our- 
selves in the midst of their singular community. 
Thoir buildingsare closely arranged, along a street of 



42 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

a mile in length. All of them are comfortable, and 
a considerable proportion are large. They are, al- 
most without an exception, painted of an ochre yel- 
low, and, although plain, they make a handsome 
appearance. The utmost neatness is conspicuous, in 
their fields, gardens, court yards, outhouses, and in 
the very road ; not a weed, not a spot of filth, or any 
nuisance is suffered to exist. Their wood is cut 
and piled, in the most exact order ; their fences are 
perfect ; even their stone walls are constructed with 
great regularity, and of materials so massy, and so 
well arranged, that unless overthrown by force, they 
may stand for centuries ; instead of wooden posts 
for their gates, they have pillars of stone of one sol- 
id piece, and every thing bears the impress of labour, 
vigilance and skill, with such a share of taste, as is 
consistent with the austerities of their sect. Their 
orchards are beautiful, and probably no part of our 
country presents finer examples of agricultural ex- 
cellence. They are said to possess nearly three 
thousand acres of land, in this vicinity. Such neat- 
Bess and order I have not seen any where, on so 
large a scale, except in Holland, where the very 
necessities of existence impose order and neatness 
upon the whole population ; but here it is voluntary. 
Besides agriculture, it is well known, that the 
Shakers occupy themselves much, with mechanical 
employments. The productions of their industry 
and skill, sieves, brushes, boxes, pails and other do- 
mestic utensils are every where exposed for sale, and 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 43 

are distinguished by excellence of workmanship. 
Their garden seeds are celebrated for goodness, 
and find a ready market. They have many gardens, 
but there is a principal one of several acres which I 
am told exhibits superior cultivation. 

Their females are employed in domestic manu- 
factures and house work, and the community is fed 
and clothed principally by its own productions. 

The property is all in common. The avails of 
the general industry are poured into the treasury of 
the whole ; individual wants are supplied from a 
common magazine, or store house, which is kept 
for each family, and ultimately, the elders invest 
the gains in land and buildings, or sometimes in 
money, or other p(;rsonal property, which is held 
for the good of the society. 

It seems somewhat paradoxical to speak of a 
family, where the relation upon which it is found- 
ed is unknown. But still, the Shakers are assem- 
bled in what they call families, which consist of lit- 
tle collections, (more or less numerous according to 
the size of the house) of males and females, who oc- 
cupy separate apartments, under the same roof, and 
eat at separate tables, but mix occasionally for soci- 
ety, labour or worship. There is a male and a fe- 
male head to the family, who superintend all their 
concerns — give out their provisions— allot their 
employments, and enforce industry and fidelity. 

The numbers in this village, as we were inform- 
ed by one of the male members, are about five hun- 



44 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND tlUEBEC. 

dred, but there are said to be fifteen hundred, inclu- 
ding other villages in this vicinity. Their num- 
bers are sustained by voluntary recruits, allured, 
it is said, by kindness, to join the society; and des- 
titute widows, frequently come in, with their 
children, and unite themselves to this commu- 
nity. Where a comfortable subsistence for life, 
a refuge for old age, and for infancy and childhood; 
the reputation (at least with the order) of pie- 
ty, and the promise of heaven are held out to view, 
it is no wonder that the ignorant, the poor, the be- 
reaved, the deserted, the unhappy, the supersti- 
tious, the cynical and even the whimsical, should 
occasionally swell the numbers of the Shakers. 

Their house of public worship is painted white, 
and is a neat building, whose appearance, would not 
be disreputable to any sect. 

The order, neatness, comfort, and thrift, which 
are conspicuous among them, are readily account- 
ed for, by their industry, economy, self-denial and 
devotion to their leaders, and to the common inte- 
rest, all of which are religious duties among them, 
and, the very fact that they are for the most part, 
not burdened with the care of children, leaves them 
greatly at liberty, to follow their occupations with- 
out interruption.* 

*They have another collection of houses in the vicinity, where 
I was told they place offending members, Who being under disci- 
pline, are for the time, excluded from the community, and whom 



TOUR nSTWEBN ifARTFWRB ANB QUEBEC. 4.i 

But — where is the warrant, either in reason or in 
scripture, by which whole communities, (not here 
and there, inchviduals, peculiarly situated,) with- 
draw themselves from the most interesting and im- 
portant of the social relations — from the tender char- 
ities of husband and wife — from the delightful assi- 
duities of parental love— from that relation, on which 
society stands, and on which as on a fruitful stock, 
, is grafted, every personal and domestic virtue, and 
"^every hope, both for this world and a better!! 

By what right are they empowered to recruit their 
ranks, thinned from time to time, by death, by drawing 
upon the social world, whose obedience to the first 

they style backsliders. I am told that they are not offended by being 
called Shakers, and do not regard it as an opprobrious epithet, 
Indeed, 1 hiive never heard of a milder or more respectable name, 
for I would not use an opprobrious or ludicrous term, to designate 
a community distinguished by many virtues. 

t More is not here attributed to the institution of marriage, than 
it deserves, for, to try the question, we must ask, not, what is the 
condition of, here and there, a convent and a monastery, or of a 
few clusters of Shakers, protected as they are by society, founded 
on marriage, and drawing their recruits from the offspring of its 
virtuous affections. We must inquire what would be the condi- 
tion of the world, were the institution of marriage eniirely abolish- 
ed! It is obvious, that it woola soon become the universal theatre 
of crimes, of every description, which are now only ocrrt«o«a/, and 
that no one solitary virtue could possibly spring up, or be cherish- 
ed. Piety itself, could it exist in such a state of things, must (if 
such paradoxical language can be admitted,) necessarily become 
exclusively selfish, and indeed, it coald find no refuge, excf'pt iu 
absolute seclosiofi, in the dens and caves of (he earth. 
' 6 



46 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Jaw of God and nature, they condemn, while they 
are dependant upon it, both for their own existence 
as individuals, and for the continuance of their 
unnatural community ; however commendable 
they may be for their industrious, moral and hu- 
mane deportment, and for their active benevo- 
lence ; (for which they are certainly highly meri- 
torious ;) the principle of their association is, in 
my opinion, deserving of severe reprobation. But 
happily, their example is very little in danger of 
general imitation ; mankind will not, generally, 
be persuaded to go on a crusade, or to suffer 
martyrdom, in the cause of celibacy, and I believe 
it will be long ere the world, is all reformed, by be- 
coming a generation of Shakers. 



NEW-LEBANON MINERAL SPRING. 

This is a very remarkable fountain. Unlike most 
mineral waters, it issues from a high hill; the wa- 
ter boils up in a space of ten feet wide, by three 
and a half deep ; it is perfectly pellucid, so that a 
pin's head might be seen on the bottom of the spring ; 
gas in abundance, issues from among the pebbles, 
and sand, and keeps the water in constant and pleas- 
ing agitation ; the fountain is very copious, more so 
by far than any spring I have seen, except the 
springs at Bath, in England ; the water discharged 
amounts to eighteen barrels in a minute, and not 
only supplies the baths very copiously, simply by 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 47 

running down hill to them, but, in the same man- 
ner it feeds several mills, and turns the water 
wheels with sufficient power. Owing to its high 
temperature, it does not congeal in winter, which 
gives it a great advantage for moving machinery. 
The quantity of water is constant, and varies not 
perceptibly in any season— so is its temperature 
which is 73° of Fahrenheit. This temperature, 
so near the summer heat, makes it a truly ther- 
mal water, and causes a copious cloud of con- 
densed vapour to hang over the fountain, when- 
ever the air is cold. There is no film to be seen 
upon the water, it apparently deposits nothing 
by standing, but in the course of time, there 
collects in its channel, an earthy or stony de- 
posit, which eventually becomes copious and hard. 

This deposit is rapidly made in the tea kettles, 
which are speedily incrusted, and their throats 
choaked by it ; it is of a white colour, and its ori- 
gin can scarcely be a subject of wonder, since the 
fountain issues from a hill of lime stone. 

The water is perfectly tasteless and inodorous- 
very soft — does not curdle soap — is used for all cu- 
linary and domestic purposes — is acceptable to ani- 
mals, which drink at the stream that flows in a riv- 
ulet down the hill and apparentlyj differs little from 
very pure mountain water, except by its remarkable 
temperature ; that of the contiguous springs in the 

same hill is as low as that of any mountain springs 
—about 50°. 



48 TOUK BETWEEJJ HAKTFOBD AND ^ETEBE.C. 

It is found to be very useful in salt rheums and 
various other cutaneous affections — in some trouble- 
some internal obstructions, &ic. It augments the 
appetite, and sometimes acts as a cathartic. The 
bath, if used without previously guarding the stom- 
ach, by a draught of water, sometimes produces 
nausea. 

As to the chemical constitution of this water, 
Professor Griscom, (in 1810) from the application 
of tests, but without attempting a regular analysis, 
drew certain conclusions, which are staled in 
Bruce's Journal V. l,pa. 158. 

Dr. William Meade,* from a regular process of 
analysis infers, that the Lebanon Spring contains; 
in two quarts of the water — 

Muriat of Lime, - - - 1 grain. 
Muriatof Soda, - - - 13-4 
Sulphat of Lime, - - - 11-2 
Carbonat of Lime, - - 3-4 

Total, - - 5 

The aeriform Huids in two quarts of water, he 
states thus : — 

*See the appendix to Dr. MeaJe's Experimental Inquiry into 
the Chemical Properties and Medicinal Qiialilief of the Ballston 
and Saratoga Water?. 



TOUll BETWEEfi HAHTFORD AND QUEBEC 49 

Azotic gas, (or nitrogen,) 13 cubic inches. 
Atmospheric air, - - 8 do. do. 



21 



Dr. Meade remarks that the Lebanon water is 
purer than most natural waters, and purer than the 
contiguous springs, which flow from the same hill. 
Its temperature appears therefore to be the only pe- 
culiarity to which any medical virtues can be attach- 
ed. It is beyond a doubt, that tepid waters, not 
stronger in mineral ingredients than the Lebanon 
water, do produce salutary effects, as at Bristol and 
Buxton in England. The Buxton water is very 
similar to that at Lebanon ; it is very copious and a 
little warmer. Being there some years since, I was 
forcibly struck with the abundance and purity of the 
water and with the fine atmosphere and features of 
the country. As to picturesque scenery, it is how- 
ever inferior to New-Lebanon, and it is probable 
that there is not a mineral spring in the world, sur- 
rounded by finer Landscapes than this. 

Not expecting, when I left home, to visit any 
mineral spring, I had to regret that I had no rea- 
gents or instruments of analysis with me. I brought 
only instruments necessary for mineralogical and 
geological observations. 

The gas which issues from the spring, is so copi- 
ous, that I could easily collect it in the usual man- 

*5 



50 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBTiC. 

ner, in bottles filled with the water of the fountain, 
and inverted in it, with funnels in their mouths. 

1 ascertained that the gas readily extinguishes a 
candle — smoke, mingled with it, descends to the bot- 
tom of the vessel, and doesnotrest upon it, as in car- 
bonic acid ; the gas does not readily run from the 
mouth of an inverted bottle, on to a burning can- 
dle, but if the candle be held close to the mouth of 
the bottle, it is extinguished as the gas passes out. 
I am therefore of opinion with Dr Meade, that the 
gas is azot. Indeed, as he justly remarks, the fact 
that the water is not acidulous or sparkling, although 
the gas that rises through it is very abundant ; that 
it does not trouble lime water, and is not at all ab- 
sorbed by it, and that it does not redden litmus pa- 
per, sufficiently proves that the gas contains no car- 
bonic acid.* 

Azoi probably imparts no virtues to mineral wa- 
ters as it is insoluble in water. Still it is found in 

* The proprietor of the sprinn:, furnished mc with a quantity 
af the fplicl matter, depos.tecl by boiling liie water in tea kettles. 
I find that it dissolves in uitric acid with great rapidity, and with 
a very active efferves enoe, leaving oidy a small residuum. The 
saturated solution is intensely bitter — gives a dense precipi- 
tate with fluot of ammonia, and with sulphuric acid becomes 
solid, so that the glass was inverted without dropping a particle. 
This residuum from the evaporation of the water in the tta ket- 
tles, is tasteles — msoluble in water, and remains unaltered, even 
in a damp air. AW these tacts show it to be principally carbonat 
of lime ; U'.e muriats which Dr. Meade found, would of course be 
removed by the boding water. — May, 1820. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 51 

many, especially of the warm springs. Bath water, 
which boils up with great agitation, owes this move- 
ment in part to azot, but perhaps more to the aque- 
ous vapour, for the water is at tiie temperature of 
116° of Fah. when it first emerges, and is probably 
much hotter below. 

We know that this spring has flowed thus hot, 
more than two tho^ sand years ; what is the cause i* 
There are no relics of volcanoes here, nor other 
marks of subterranean heat, except those afforded 
by the water itself. 



SCENERY OF NEW LEBANON. 

Had this remarkable place been situated in Eu- 
rope, tourists would have pronounced its panegyric, 
and poets would have made it famous, as Windsor 
or Richmond Hill, or as the little Isle in Loch Ka- 
trin. 

Few places have fallen within my observation, 
which combine both the grand and the beautiful, in 
a higher degree, than the basin oi Mew- Lebanon. 
Embosomed in mountains, (at thi? time capped with 
dark clouds, which, with their lofty and apparently 
impassable barriers, seem to shut it out from the rest 
of the world) — verdatitasid beautful mits slopes, and 
in the plain by which they are tern)inated, and ex- 
hibiting a village, with a handsome church and stee- 
ple in the bottom of the basin, it powerfully brought 



32 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND ^UEBKC. 

to my recollection, the valley of Castleton, in the 
Peak of Derbyshire. Between the two, there is 
certainly a striking resemblance, but with some 
points of disparity. 

The Derbyshire mountains are more lofty, and 
of course more grand — those of New-Lebanon, 
while they are cultivated, in some places to their 
summits, are also extensively crowned with forests, 
while the Derbyshire mountains are naked as a hil- 
lock, shornby the scythe. TheNew-Lebanon scen- 
ery resembles also, that in the vicinity of the cele- 
brated springs of Bath, in England. 

At New-Lebanon, the principal lodging-house is 
situaledon the slope of one of the high hills. The 
view from the gallery, in the front of this house is 
very fine, and much resembles that from the Cres- 
cent at Bath ; from the latter, you see a beautiful 
amphitheatre of hills, highly cultivated and ver- 
dant, and possessing more wood than is common in 
England, but the view at Bath, although perhaps 
more beautiful, from cultivation, is less extensive, 
and less magnificent and grand, than that at New- 
Lebanon. 

On the side of the New-Lebanon basin, opposite 
to the spring, at the distance of two miles and an 
half, upon the declivity of the mountain, and near 
its base, is the Shakers' village, which, with its 
green fields and neat houses, is a pleasing object, in 
the outline of the picture. Nearet" still, (as I have 
already remarked,) and in the very bottom of the 



T.OUU BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QDEBEC. 33 

basin, is the handsome village of New-Lebanon, 
composed of neat white houses, and a church, with 
a spire ; and all around, are the grand slopes of 
mountains, which limit the view on every side, and 
present fields, woods and rocks, and bold ridges, 
upon which the clouds often repose. 

Bristol spring, in England, is surrounded by the 
fine scenery of the Avon, and the romantic rock of 
St. Vincent impends over it, with a good degree of 
grandeur; but even this scene is very limited, com- 
pared with that of New-Lebanon, and when at the 
Bristol spring, the observer is in a deep channel, by 
the side of the river, and shut out completely from 
all prospect. From the top of St. Vincent's rock, 
and from every part of Clifford, and the other emi- 
nences around Bristol, and indeed from the upper 
street of the town iteelf, there are the finest views. 
The famous springs at Ballston and Saratoga have 
much fewer advantages of scenery, and their princi- 
pal attractions are those presented by the medicinal 
powers of the waters, by good cheer, and by genteel 
company; the first of these advantages is very great, 
and those springs are without doubt, one of thegreat- 
est natural bounties of heaven to this country. The 
other two may be enjoyed at New-Lebanon, where 
we found pleasant company, and a house extreme- 
ly comfortable, in every thing except the beds, 
which were very hard.* 

'* I am tolj tlioy nrc nf>w very 2;ooil. IG2-1. 



54 TOUR BETWEEN HARTPOnD AND QUEBEC. 

For those who wish to enjoy fine rural scenery, 
bold, picturesque and beautiful, with the best nmoun- 
tain air, and such advantages to health, as this co- 
pious fountain presents, nothing can be better in its 
kind than New-Lebanon. Its waters must be ad- 
mirable for bathing. 

New-Lebanon spring is twelve miles from Lenox, 
and seventy miles from Hartford. 

It is situated just within the limits of the state 
of New-York, three or four miles from the state of 
Massachusetts, and thirty or more from Connecti- 
cut. A stone similar to a mile-stone, denoting the 
boundary line between the states of Massachusetts 
and New-York, stands on the slope of the mountain, 
as we descend towards the village of the Shakers. 

In the valley of New-Lebanon there is a family 
vault, which struck us on entering the village. It 
is a neat cemetery, covered by a high mound ; a 
marble table lies on the top, and (what constitutes 
its singularity,) it has a flag staff', similar to those in 
Ibrts ; we supposed it must be a: mausoleum for 
some military man, but we were informed that it 
was the vault of a private family, of the name of 
Hand, and that whenever any mtmber of the fami- 
ly dies, a black flag is hoisted on the flag-staff. 



RIDE TO ALBANY. 

The morning after our arrival at the New-Leha- 
noq spring, the equinoctial blorm, wuich bad never 



T.OUR BETWEEN HAIITF^RB AND QWEBEC'. 55 

deserted us, poured, literally, floods of rain ; they 
ran in torrents down the steep hills of New-Leba- 
non, while the black clouds and the clusters of va- 
por hung over the tops and around the sides of the 
mountains, or, driven by the gusts of wind, swept 
with gloomy grandeur, along the frowning ridges. 
It appeared as if we were imprisoned for the day, 
and we solaced ourselves with the pleasant society 
of the small but intelligent party which we found 
at the Springs. 

About ten o'clock, the rain so far ceased that we 
resumed, and afterwards continued our ride, al- 
though rain and sun-shine, and alternate currents of 
hot and cold air, made it a day of singular fluctua- 
tion. 

Stephen-Town, Nassau and Schodack, through 
which we passed, presented nothing jiarticularly in- 
teresting. At Greenbush, we observed the exten- 
sive barracks, erected during the late war, for the 
accommodation of the United States' troops ; being 
white, and standing upon elevated ground, they make 
a pleasing appearance — aside from the pensive sen- 
sations, associated withall military spectacles. Near 
the river, we examined an abandoned pit, dug for 
coal, and a sulphureous mineral water ; the latter has 
been considerably spoken of, but, on the present oc- 
casion, was weak both in taste and smell, owing, I 
suppose, to the recent heavy rains, and to its being 
left without any shelter to protect it from the weath- 
er. Some winters since, a bottle of it which had 



§6 TOUR BETWEEJ; HARTFOUI) AND QUEBEC. 

been brought to me, happened to freeze, and broke, 
when the offensive hepatic gas filled the house to 
the no small annoyance of the family. 

From the barracks, we descended a considerable 
hill, before vre reached the bank of the river ; a 
horseboat conveyed us over the Hudson, and before 
night, we were safely landed at a very comfortable 
house in the city of Albany. 



GEOLOGY. 

At New-Lebanon, a few miles east of the springs, 
the geology of the country undergoes a great chani^e, 
and the whole tract, thence to Albany, is, without 
doubt, a transition country. Bluish gray transition 
lime stone, in immense strata, traversed by white 
veins of calcareous spar, is found at New-Lebanon. 
Its texture is nearly compact, its structure slaty, and 
its inclination to the horizon considerable. Grau- 
wacke makes its appearance, about seven miles on 
the road towards Albany, and continues to be abun- 
dant at intervals. Common transition slate and a 
red slaty rock of a very fine, and indeed almost im- 
perceptible grain, apparently between a sand stone 
and a slate are abundant. The strata on the road 
are in many places, much decomposed. The slate 
thrown out of the pit at Greenbush, where the exca- 
vation was made for coal, is evidently transition 



TOUR BETWEKN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 57 

islate, having often a tortuous appearance and a glis- 
tening surface, as if covered with a varnish or with 
plumbago. It is just such slate as is found in con- 
nexion with the anthracite of Rhode Island. It ap- 
pears therefore, that good bituminous coal is not to 
be expected at Greenbush ; the incombustible coal, 
the anthracite, may indeed be found, but it would 
be much less valuable than the other kind. 

I have several limes had occasion to remark, that 
the picturesque features of a country depend very 
much on its geology. This remark is particularly 
verified by the country just spoken of. After leav- 
ing New-Lebanon, we soon lose that bold scenery 
which I have described, and which often so emin- 
ently characterises primitive countries. The tran- 
sition lime-stone, I am aware, is occasionally Alpine 
in its appearance, as in the Peak of Derbyshire, and 
it is so in the New-Lebanon basin. 

But, the transiiion and slaty formation, which im- 
mediately succeeds, presents hills of moderate ele- 
vation, without ridges, peaks, defiles or deep hol- 
lows, and bounded by gentle outlines and large 
curves. It would be too much to say, that this is 
the invariable character of transition countries, but 
compared with the primitive in the immediate vi- 
cinity, I believe they usually possess this appearance. 

We must not, however, insist with too much rigor 

upon the application of the systematic arrangements 

of other countries to this. Many parts of our primi- 

6 



58 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

tive formations, occupy a low level, and some of 
our prinoitive slaty rocks are not highly inclined in 
relation to the horizon. 

The ridges of greenstone trap at Greenfield, in 
Massachusetts, are higher than the granite of North- 
field and Montague, in the same vicinity, and atLev- 
erett, the granite is low, and the puddingstone rises 
to the heighth of five or six hundred feet, and far 
above the granite. The Sugar-Loaf Mountain, in 
the southern part of Deerfield, is composed of con- 
glomerate, and is five hundred feet high above the 
contiguous plain. Mount Toby, on the opposite 
side of the river in Sunderland, is between eight and 
nine hundred feet high, and these hills are higher 
than the greenstone, granite and other rocks in that 
region.* 



ALBANY. 

Albany contains from ten to twelve thousand in- 
habitants,f and is the second city in the state (we 
might almost say empire,) of New-York. Its lati- 
tude is 42° 38' N. ; it is one hundred and sixty miles 
from New-York, and one hundred sixty-four from 

* See Mr. Hitchcock's account of Deerfield, &c. — American 
Journal of Science, &:c. — V^ol. I, 

t 12,630 in lSi20.— Morse' s G^osraphi/. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 59 

Boston. It rises, for the most part, rapidly from 
the river, and exhibits a very handsome appearance 
from the Greenbush side. The greater part of the 
population, however, is on the flat ground, immedi- 
ately contiguous to the river, where the Dutch, who 
founded the town, first commenced building, agree- 
ably to their established habits in Holland. In- 
stances are innumerable, where people continue 
from habit, what was at first begun from necessity, 
and this seems to have been the fact in the present 
ease. The town extends about two miles north 
and south, on the river, and in the widest part, 
nearly one mile east and west. It is perfectly com- 
pact — closely built, and as far as it extends, has the 
appearance of a great city. It has numerous streets, 
lanes, and alleys, and in all of them, there is the 
same closeness of building, and the same city-like 
appearance. 

The principal streets, and especially Market, 
State and Pearl streets, are spacious, and the hous- 
es in general, are handsome and commodious ; ma- 
ny are large, and a few are splendid. State-street 
is very wide, and rises rapidly from the river, up a 
considerably steep hill. The Capitol stands at the 
head of it. This is a large and handsome building 
of stone,* furnished with good rooms for the govern- 

* I could not but re»ret that the tessellated marble pavement of 
the vestibule, otherwise very handsome, was shamefully dirtied 
by tobacco spittle : such a thing would not be suffered in Europe, 
H is, however, unfortunately, only a sample of the too general 



60 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

ment and courts of law; in the decorations and fur- 
niture of some of these apartments, there is a good 
degree of elegance, and even some splendor. — 
There is also a State Library, just begun ; it does 
not yet contain one thousand volumes, but they are 
well selected, and a fund of five hundred dollars 
per annum is provided for its increase, besides three 
thousand dollars granted by the legislature to com- 
mence the collection. 

The view from the Balcony of the Capitol is 
rich and magnificent : the mountains of Vermont 
and of the Catskill are the most distant objects, and 
the banks of the river are very beautiful, on ac- 
count of the fine verdure and cultivation, and of 
the numerous pretty eminences, which bound its 
meadows. 

The Academy of Albany, situated on the Capi- 
tol Hill, is a noble building of Jersey free stone. 

Although it has (as stated to me by Dr. B ) 

cost ninety thousand dollars, only the lower rooms 
are finished. Schools are, however, maintained, in 
it, for nearly two hundred children, and it is pros- 
perous, under the able direction of Dr. T. R. Beck, 
and several assistant teachers. 

This Institution was erected at the expence of 
the city of Albany, and is honourable to its munifi- 
cence, although a plainer building, which, when 

treatment of public buildings, and places in the United States, 
and constitutes no peculiar topic of reproach, in this instance ; 
teat it is particularly offensive in so fine a building. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 6^ 

completely finished, would have cost much less 
money, would probably have been equally useful, 
and might have left them, out of their ninety thou- 
sand dollars, a handsome fund, in addition to what 
they now possess. 

There is a large and convenient brick building 
for a Lancasterian school, but I did not go into it,* 

Among the interesting things of Albany is the 
seat of the late General Schuyler, situated quite in 
the country, at the south end of the town. It is 
memorable, principally, from its historical associa- 
tions. It was the seat of vast hospitality and the 
resort of the great men of the revolution. 

Even Gen. Burgoyne, with his principal officers, 
was lodged and entertained there, after his surren- 
der, although he had devastated Gen. Schuyler's 
beautiful estate at Saratoga, and burned his fine 
country seat. 

The house of the late Gen. Schuyler, is spacious 
and in its appearance venerable; it has, long since, 
passed away from the family and is now possessed 
by a furrier. 

At the opposite, or northern extremity of Albany, 
and almost equally in the country, is situated the 
seat of the patroon, Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer. 
It is well known, that he possesses a vast patrimo- 
nial estate of forty miles square, lying in the vicinity 
of Albany, which has descended, unbroken, froiD 

* I visited it afterwards, and was much gratified by seeing 
several hundred children receiving instruction in this building. 
1824. 

6* 



62 TOUR BEtWEEN HAlltFORD AND QUEBEC. 

his early American ancestors. Such a phenome- 
non, in a republican country, is very remarkable, 
and cannot fail, in spite of our early prejudices, and 
the strong bias of national feelings, to excite a de- 
gree of admiration, if not of veneration. We are 
still more disposed to indulge these feelings, when 
we find the hereditary possession of such wealth, 
associated with distinguished excellence, in public 
and private life, with the most amiable and unassu- 
ming manners, and with a princely, although dis- 
criminating liberality. 

The house, (which was built by the father of the 
present patroon,) is a palace. It stands on the flat 
ground, by the river, and looks down Market street, 
which here terminates abruptly. The house has in 
the rear, nothing but green fields and beautiful rural 
scenes. It is imbowered in groves, and shrubbery, 
and reminded me powerfully, of some of the fine 
villas in Holland, to which, both in situation and 
appearance, it bears a strong resemblance. 

Among the gentry and professional and literary 
men of Albany, there are individuals of distinguish- 
ed eminence. But, eminent men, of our own time 
and country, are rather too near, for much minute- 
ness of delineation. Were it not for the restraint 
thus imposed by delicacy, it would be a task, by no 
means ungrateful, to draw likenesses from the life, 
and to exhibit the combined effect of talent, learn- 
ing, and social virtues. An American in Europe, 
is free from this embarrassment, and should he 
here discover a mind of amazing vigor and activi- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTfORD AND QU EBEC. 63 

ty — always glowing — always on the wing — replete 
with various and extensive knowledge, flowing out 
in the most rapid, ardent, and impressive eloquence, 
while simplicity and familiarity of manners were as- 
sociated with a high minded integrity, and indepen- 
dence, he would fearlessly pronounce the possessor 
of such qualities an original and captivating man. 

Albany is the great thoroughfare and resort of 
the vast western regions of the State ; its streets are 
very bustling; it is said that two thousand waggons 
sometimes pass up and down State street in a dayj 
it must hereafter become a great inland city. 

It stands near the head of sloop navigation and 
of tide water : sloops of eighty tons come up to the 
town, besides the steam-boats of vastly greater ton- 
nage, but of a moderate draught of water. 

In addition to the public buildings that have been 
already mentioned, Albany has a City Hall, a Jail, 
an Aims-House, a State Arsenal, two Market hous- 
es, four banks, a museum, eleven houses of public 
worship, and a public Library, containing about four 
thousand volumes.* 

The private library of Chancellor Kent, does 
honour to him and to learning. It contains between 
two and three thousand volumes of choice books. 
The collection on jurisprudence, embraces not only 
the English, but the civil and French law. It con- 
tains Latin, Greek, English and French Classics — 
belles letters — history — biography — travels, — and 
books in most branches of human learning. The 

* Worcester's Gazetteer. 



64 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

numerous manuscript remarks and annotations, on 
the blank leaves and margins of the books, evince 
that they are not a mere pageant, and at a future 
day will form some of the most interesting of our 
literary relics. 

The situation of Albany is salubrious, and emi- 
nently happy, in relation to the surrounding coun- 
try, which is populous and fertile. No one can 
estimate the importance of the regions west, which, 
in their progressive increase, and aided by the stu- 
pendous canal,* now in progress, must pour a great 
part of their treasures through this channel. 

Albany has been memorable in American histo- 
ry. It was the rendezvous, and the point of de- 
parture, for most of those armies, which, whether 
sent by the mother country, or, raised by the colo- 
nies themselves, for the conquest of the Gallo- 
American dominions, and of the savages, so often, 
during the middle periods of the last century, exci- 
ted, and more than once disappointed the hopes of 
the empire. It was scarcely less conspicuous in the 
same manner, during the war of the revolution, and 
during the late war with Great Britain. Few places, 
on this side of the Atlantic, have seen more of mar- 
tial array, or heard more frequently the dreadful 
" note of preparation." Still, (except perhaps in 
some of the early contests, with the Aborigines) it 
has never seen an enemy ; a hostile army has 
never encamped before it ; nor have its women and 

* Already united to the waters of the Hudson, and beginning 
to verify the remark in the text. 1824. 



"TOUR BETWEEN HAKTFORD AN» QUEBEC. 6b 

children ever seen " the smoke of an enemy's 
camp." 

More than once, however, has a foreign enemy, 
after fixing his destination for Albany, been either 
arrested, and turned back in his career, or visited 
the desired spot in captivity and disgrace. 

The French invasions from Canada never came 
nearer than Schenectady.* In 1777, the porten- 
tous advances of the British armies from Quebec, 
and of the British fleets and armies, from New- 
York, threatening a junction at Albany, and filling 
the new States with alarm, and the Cabinet of St. 
James with premature exultation, met a most sig- 
nal discomfiture. 

Albany was the seat of the great convention, held 
in 1754, for the purpose of bringing about a con- 
federation of the Colonies, for their mutual defence 
and general benefit, and it has been signalized, by 
not a few other meetings, for momentous public 
purposes. 

We passed a part of three days in Albany, and 
were not without strong inducements to protract our 
stay. The public houses are excellent, affording 
every accommodation and comfort, with that quiet 
and retirement, and that prompt civility, so com- 
monly found in English Inn«, and which, until with- 

• la 1690, Schenectady was sudJenly assaulted, in the night, 
by the French and Indians, and its miserable inhabitants either 
n H-acre). or drag;g;ed, in the depth of winter, into captivity. 



66 TOUR BET\rEEN HAUTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

in a few years, were so rare in those of America. 
Polished and enlightened society, and the courte- 
sies of hospitality hold out still stronger attractions, 
but our allotments of time did not permit us to re- 
main any longer, and we hastened to set our faces 
towards the British dominions. 



BANKS OF THE HUDSON, ABOVE ALBANY. 

We determined to go by Whitehall, as we wish- 
ed to avail ourselves, of the rapid and comfortable 
conveyance, to the confines of Canada, now estab- 
lished on Lake Champlain. Being unwilling how- 
ever to pass rapidly by, or entirely to avoid-, all 
the interesting objects on the road, we adopted such 
an arrangement, as might permit us to take the 
banks of the Hudson and Lake George in our 
route. Indeed, from Albany, upon the course pro- 
posed, every part of our way was to be over classic- 
al ground. History sheds a deeper interest over 
no portion of the North American States. He who 
venerates the virtues and the valour, and commis- 
serates the sufferings of our fathers, and he, who 
views, with gratitude and reverence, the deliveran- 
ces which heaven has wrought for this land, will 
tread with awe, on every foot of ground between 
Albany and the northern lakes. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 67 

We were obliged, on this occasion, to deny our- 
selves a visit to S(h"npct^«dy, and its rising literary 
institution, and to the waters of Tallston and S ira- 
toga. Leaving them therefore to the left, we pro- 
ceo' ed along the banks of the Hudson, principally 
on the western shore. 

This is a charming ride. The road is very good, 
and absolutely without a hill ; the river often placid 
and smooth, but sometimes disturbed by a rocky 
bottom, is ahnost constantly in sight, and flows 
through beautiful meadows, which are commonly 
bouniie !, at small dis'ances from the Hudson, by 
verdant hills, of moderate height, and gentle de- 
clivity. The strata of rocks are, almost invariably, 
the transition slate. They present scarcely any 
variety. The direction of the strata is so nearly 
that of the river, that they form but an inconsidera- 
ble angle with it ; they often protrude their edges 
into view, because they have a very high inclination 
to the horizon, apparently about 45°,* or perhaps 
in some instances, a few degrees less. The rock is 
easily broken up, and reduceil to small fragments ; 
and therefore forms an excellent material for the 
roads. The banks of the river frequently present a 
natural barrier, formed by the same kind of rock. 
Nearly six miles from Albany, we crussed the river 
into Troy. 

* I had no opportunity to judge, except by the eye, as we rode 



6S TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC 

SINGULAR HORSE FERRY-BOAT. 

The ferry-boat is of a most singtilar construction.* 
A platfornn covers a wide flat boat. Underneath 
the platform, there is a large horizontal solid wheel, 
which extends to the sides of the boat ; and there 
the platform, or deck, is cut through, and removed, 
so as to afford sufficient room for two horses to 
stand on the flat surface of the wheel, one horse on 
each side, and parallel to the gunwale of the boat. 
The horses are harnessed, in the usual manner for 
teams — the whiffle trees being attached to stout iron 
bars, fixed horizontally, at a proper height, in the 
posts, which are a part of the permanent structure of 
the boat. The horses look in opposite directions, 
one to the bow, and the other to the stern ; their feet 
take hold of channels, or grooves, cut in the wheels, 
in the direction of radii ; they press forward, and, al- 
though they advance not, any more than a squirrel, 
in a revolving cage, or than a spit dog at his work, 
their feet cause the horizontal wheel to revolve, in 
a direction opposite tothatof theirown apparentmo- 
tion ; this, by a connexion of cogs, moves two verti- 
cal wheels, one on each wing of the boat, and these, 
being constructed like the paddle wheels of steam- 
boats, produce the same effect, and propel the boat 
forward. The horses are covered by a roof, fur- 
nished with curtains, to protect them in bad weath- 
er ; and do not appear to labour harder than com- 
mon draft horses, with a heavy load. 

* They have now become common, and are worked by four 
horsc3 where the boat is large. 1824. 



TOUR BETWEEN UARTFOnB AND QUEBEC. 69 

The inventor of this boat, is Mr. Langdon, of 
Whitehall, and it claims the important advantages of 
simplicity, cheapness, and effect. At 6rst view, 
the labour appears like a hardship upon the horses, 
but probably this is an illusion, as it seems very im- 
material to their comfort, whether they advance with 
their load, or cause the basis, on which they labour, 
to recede. 



TROY, LANSINGBURGH, AND WATERFORD. 

Troy, six miles north of Albany, is a beautiful 
city, handsomely built, and regularly laid out; its 
appearance is very neat ; it stands principally on 
the flat ground, by the Hudson — contains five thou- 
sand inhabitants *-a court-house, jail, market-house, 
jand two banks, a public library, a Lancasterian 
'school, and five places of public worship. It has 
an intelligent and polished population, and a large 
share of wealth. A number of its gentlemen have 
discovered their attachment to science, by the in- 
stitution of a Lyceum of Natural History, which, 
fostered by the activity, zeal, and intelligence of 
ts members, and of its lecturer, Mr. Eaton, promi- 
ses to be a public benefit, and to elevate the char- 
acter of the place. 

Near it, on the opposite side of the river, are ex- 
ensive and beautiful barracks, belonging to the 

* 6264 ia 1820. 
7 



70 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUE BEG. 

United States, with a large park of artillery. Below 
the town, are fine mill seats, on which are al- 
ready established, several important manufactures, 
for which kind of employments, Troy appears very 
favourably situated. Small sloops come up to this 
town, which, for size, and importance, is the third, 
er fourth in the state. 

We had to regret that the arrangements of our 
journey did not permit us to pass as much time in 
Troy, as, under other circumstances, would have 
.l>een both useful and agreeable. 

Lansingburgh, through which we passed, three 
miles north of Troy, is inferior to it in the number 
and quality of its buildings. Its population is not 
far from two thousand. It is a large and handsome 
settlement, situated, principally, on one street, and 
has an academy, a bank, and four* places of public 
worship. Sloops come up to this place, and it. en- 
joys a considerable trade. 

It was formerly more flourishing than at present. 
Troy has, for a good many years, gained the pre- 
eminence, and seems likely to retain it. 

Waterford is a pretty village, of one thousand in- 
kabitants, and stands on the western bank of the 
Hudson, at its confluence with the Mohawk, where a 
numberof islands, producingthe appearance of seve- 
ral mouths, give diversity to a very beautiful scene. 
It is ten miles north of Albany. From the Lansing- 
bargh side, we crossed into it, over a commodi- 

* Worcester's Gazetteer. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 71 

ous bridge. The name of this place, was formerly 
Half-Moon point. It is memorable as having been 
the n>ost southern point, to which the America* 
army, under General Schuyler, retreated, before 
the then victorious General Burgoyne. In the con- 
tiguous islands, in the mouth of the Mohawk, they 
took their stand, and were preparing to form a 
camp, so strong, that their enemy would not be able 
to force it. This was in August, 1777. On the 19th 
of that month, General Schuyler was upe rseded in 
command by General Gates. Colonel Morgan's re- 
giment of riflemen, dispatched from the main army 
by General Washington, arrived on the 23d ; and 
on the 8th of September, the army again turned 
northward, and marched to Stillwater, to face Gene- 
ral Burgoyne. From this place, therefore, we are to 
pass over the most interesting scenes of that cam- 
paign. 



GENERAL BURGOYNE' S EXPEDITION. 

Of that momentous period, I am not now about 
to re-write the history, which may be found, per- 
haps, sufficientl}' detailed, in various authors. * But, 
in travelling over ground, which has been the scene 

• Ramsay's History of the American Revolution, Gordon's His.- 
tory, Marshall's Life of Washington, Wilkinson's Memoirs, An- 
I aual Register, Burjjoyue's State of the Expedition from Cana- 
«!», &c. ka. 



1 



72 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEG, 

of memorable actians, it is both iustructive and in- 
teresting, to advert concisely, to some of the most 
prominent events. 

In May, 1775, Ticonderoga, and Crovrn Point, 
and the small marine force on the lake, had been 
taken by surprise, by the Americans, led by Colonels 
Allen and Arnold, and thus, the command of the 
lakes George and Champlain, had been acquired 
without bloodshed, and with comparatively little 
effort. 

This opened the way for the invasion of Canada, 
which was undertaken in form, in the summer of 
1775, it being supposed that the Canadians were 
disaffected to the British government, and needed 
nothing but the appearance of an American army, 
to induce a general revolt. 

Accordingly, in September, 1775, General Scuy- 
ler, with General Montgomery, proceeded to the 
Sorel river, and took post at the Isle-aux-Noix, eight 
or nine miles above St. Johns, and eleven below 
the egress of the river from Lake Champlain. 

General Schuyler falling sick, the command devol- 
ved on General Montgomery, who, in the course of 
a few weeks, reduced the forts of St. Johns and 
Chambly, on the river Sorel, and captured Mont- 
real and the towns of Sorel and the Trois Revie- 
res, on the St. Lawrence. Early in December, he 
formed a junction with General Arnold, who, in No- 
vember, arrived at Point Levi, opposite to Quebec, 
with the little army which he commanded, (having 
traversed the hideous wilc|erqess between the Ken- 



TOUE BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 73 

nebec and St. Lawrence rivers,) and the two ar- 
mies united, scarcely equalling one thousand men, 
proceeded, in due form, to invest Quebec. 

The siege, from the want of heavy cannon, prov- 
ing ineffectual, they made a desperate assault, on 
the last day of December. This terminated in the 
death of Montgomery, and the defeat of the enter- 
prise; the army, however, kept its ground, in the 
vicinity of Quebec, till spring, and maintained, part- 
ly a siege and partly a blockade of the place. 

On the return of spring, and the arrival of British 
reinforcements, the American army gradually retir- 
ed up the St. Lawrence ; and, although largely re- 
inforced, from time to time, till it eventually amount- 
ed to eight thousand men, it was not able to retain 
possession of the country ; but, by degrees, after 
varfous conflicts, more or less important, relinquish- 
ed all that had been gained, by so much effort and 
blood. 

In June, 1776, the evacuation of Canada was 
complete, and the great objects, originally in view, 
of uniting Canada to the slates, and of preventing 
invasion from that quarter, were entirely defeated. 
Still, the Americans held the command of the lakes, 
and Sir Guy Carleton, who commanded in Canada, 
made such astonishing efforts to prepare a navy, 
that, by the autumn of 1776, he had a force much 
superior to that of the Americans. 

A desperate conflict ensued, in October of the 
same year ; and General Arnold, who commanded 



7* 



71* TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 

the American flotilla, although he did every thing, 
which valour could accomplish, witnessed the com- 
plete destruction of this little navy. 

Thus the principal obstacles, that prevented the 
invasion of the new States, from Canada, were re- 
moved, and the tide of war, with a powerful reflux, 
was soon to roll back from the North. 

The troops, destined for the intended invasion, 
were already in Canada, and General Burgoyne, their 
future commander, returned to England in the au- 
tumn of 1776, to digest the plan of the intended 
campaign By an exertion of arbitrary authority, 
he was made to supersede General Sir Guy Carleton, 
who had commanded with much ability, during the 
preceding campaign, and whose only fault in the 
view of the English ministry, was probably, his 
humanity and clemency to the Americans; his mag- 
nanimity, however, led him still to do every thing in 
his power to forward the service In the spring of 
1777, General Burgoyne returned to Canada, took 

the command, and the armament proceeded on its 
destination. 

It was led by accomplished and experienced offi- 
cers; — it was furnished with a most formidable train 
of brass artillery, and with all the apparatus, stores, 
and equipments, which the nature of the service 
required, and which the art of man had invented. 
Veteran corps of the best troops of Britain and Ger- 
many, formed almost the whole of this dreaded 
army, while L-anadians, and American loyalists, fur- 



TOUR BETWEEN HAtltFORD AND QUEBEC. 13 

The carriage road, leaving the two foot-paths, 
(just described,) at the gale, passes the cottage and its 
appendages, inch'ning at first down towards the wa- 
ter, and then following the undulations of the ground, 
where the ascent is the easiest, winds gently up to 
the flat on which the house stands. Along this road 
the house, the tower, the lake, &c. occasionally ap- 
pear and disappear, through the openings in the 
trees ; in some parts of it, all these objects are shut 
from your view, and in no part is the distant view 
seen, until passing through the last group of shrub- 
bery near the house, you suddenly find yourself 
within a few yards of the brow of the mountain, and 
the valley with all its distinct minuteness, immedi- 
ately below, where every object is as perfectly visi- 
ble, as if placed upon a map. Through the whole of 
this lovely scene, which appears a perfect garden, 
the Farmington river pursues its course, sometimes 
sparkling through imbowering trees, then stretching 
in a direct line, bordered with shrubbery, blue, and 
still, like a clear canal, or bending in graceful sweeps, 
round white farm houses, or through meadows of 
the deepest green. 

The view from the house towards the east, pre- 
sents nothing but the lake at the foot ef (he lawu, 
bounded on the north and south by lofty clilTs, and 
on the opposite shore, by a lower barrier of -rocks, 
intermixed with forest trees, from amongst which, a 
road is seen to issue, passing to the south along the 
brink of the water, and although perfectly safe, 



14 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOKD AND QtfESEC. 

appears to form, from that quarter, a dangerous en- 
trance to this retired spot. 

Every thing in this view, is calculated to make an 
impression of the most entire seclusion ; for, be- 
yond the water, and the open ground in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood of the house, rocks and forests 
alone meet the eye, and appear to separate you from 
all the rest of the world. But at the same moment 
that you are contemplating this picture of the deep- 
est solitude,^you may without leaving your place, 
merely by changing your position, see through one 
of the long Gothic windows of the same room, 
which reach to a level with the turf, the glowing 
western valley, one vast sheet of cultivation, tilled 
with inhabitants, and so near, that with the aid only of 
a common spy-glass, you distinguish the motions of 
every individual who is abroad in the neighbouring 
village, even to the frolicks of the children, and the 
active industry of the domestic fowls, seeking their 
food, or watching over, and providing for their 
young. From the same window also, when the 
morning mist, shrouding the world below and fre- 
quently hiding it completely from view, still leaves 
the summit of the mountain in clear sunshine, you 
may hear through the dense medium, the mingled 
sounds, occasioned by preparation for the rural oc- 
cupations of the day. 

From the boat or summer house, several paths 
diverge ; one ofwhichj leading to the northeast, af- 
ter passing through a narrow defile, is divided into 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QURBEC. 15 

two branches ; the first passes round the lake, and 
generally out of sight of it, for a quarter of a mile, 
until descending a very steep bank, through a grove 
of evergreens, so dark as to be almost impervious to 
the rays of the sun, even at noon day, it brings you 
suddenly and unexpectedly out, upon the east- 
ern margin of the water, into the same road which 
was seen from the opposite side, and from thence 
along it, to the cottage, beyond the foot of the 
south rock. The other branch of the path, after 
leaving the defile, passes to the east side of the 
northern ridge, and thence you ascend through the 
woods, to its summit, where it terminates at the 
Tower, standing within a few rods of the edge of the 
precipice. The tower is a hexagon, of sixteen feet 
diameter, and fifty-five feet high ; the ascent, of about 
eighty steps, on the inside, is easy, and from the 
top which is nine hundred and sixty feet above the 
level of Connecticut river, you have at one view, all 
those objects which have been seen separately from 
^he different stations below. The diameter of the 
view in two directions, is more than ninety miles, 
extending into the neighbouring states of Massa- 
chusetts and New- York, and comprising the spires 
of more than thirty of the nearest towns and villa* 
ges. The little spot of cultivation surrounding the 
hou^e, and the lake at your feet, with its pictur- 
esque appendages of winding paths, and Gothic 
buildings, shut in by rocks and forests, compose the 
fore-ground of this grand Panorama. 



16 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 

On the western side, the Farmington valley ap- 
pears, in still greater beauty than even fronri the low- 
er brow, and is seen to a greater extent, presenting 
many objects which were not visible from any oth- 
er quarter. On the east, is spread before you, the 
great plain through which the Connecticut river 
winds its course, and upon the borders of which the 
towns and villages are traced for more than forty 
miles. The most considerable place within sight, 
is Hartford, where, although at the distance of eight 
miles in a direct line, you see, with the aid of a 
glass, the carriages passing at the intersection of 
the streets, and distinctly trace the motion and po- 
sition of the vessels, as they appear, and vanish, up- 
on the river, whose broad sweeps are seen like a 
succession of lakes, extending through the valley. 
The whole of this magnificent picture, including in 
its vast extent, cultivated plains and rugged moun- 
tains, rivers, towns, and villages, is encircled by a 
distant outline of blue mountains, rising in shapes of 
endless variety. 

The annexed prints, Nos. 1 and 2, will give some 
illustrations of the scenery on the top of the moun- 
tain. They exhibit different views of the lake, the 
cultivated lawn, the buildings, the surrounding for- 
est, and rocky pinnacles and tower; but still, it 
must be remembered, that they give only some 
parts of the scene on the top of the mountain, with- 
out conveying any adequate idea, of the altitude 



Q 



J. 






X.^^*> ><^- rsr-'-f f i ■ /-<.-»-v. w^^i^-e^^w-'^fe^-r^- ; 



■V 



p' 



as- 



.-..J* 









"■S 





TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 75 

nished it with rangers, scouts and spies, and a nu- 
merous array of savages, with their own dress, and 
weapons, and with their own characteristic ferocity, 
increased the terrors of its approach. It numbered, 
according to common estimation, ten thousand strong,' 
including every description of force ; an army, which, 
considering the theatre of action, was equal to ten 
times that number in the ordinary wars of Europe. 
It is probable, however, that this force was some- 
what overrated, by the Americans, as the regular 
troops did not exceed, (according to the statement 
of the British officers,) seven thousand n)en. Un- 
molested in its progress, from St. John's, up the 
lake, it landed and invested Ticonderoga, on the 
first and second days of July. 

This post, the key of the North, had not been at- 
tempted by Sir Guy Carleton, after the destruction 
of the American flotilla, in the preceding October. 
It had, in the mean time, been strengthened by ad- 
ditional works, and men, and the command of it 
committed to General St. Clair, an officer of the 
highest standing. The cour.try looked to him for a 
vigorous defence, and expected that he would stem 
the tide of invasion, and fix bounds to its proud bil- 
lows. But, that country, little knew the really fee- 
ble, and ill provided state of the garrison, and its 
utter incompetency- to contend with the formidable 
army by which it was now invested. Had it been 
even much stronger than it was, it<; strength would 
have been rendered unavailing, by the unexpected 



76 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qUEBEG, 



occupancy of Sugar Loaf Hill, or Mount Defiance, 
hitherto deemed inaccessible, and equally neglect- 
ed by all previous commanders, whether French, 
British or Americans, and had the latter now 
thought proper to possess it, they could not have 
spared troops for the purpose. From this completely 
commanding, and very contiguous position,* Gene- 
ral Burgoyne was already prepared, to pour down 
into the garrison, a certain and deadly fire from his 
artillery J while, not an effective shot could be re- 
turned. 

The Eagle, perched in the covert of the rock, 
was poising his wings to dart upon the defence- 
less prey, that was crouching beneath him, and 
nothing but precipitate flight could save the vic- 
tim. Accordingly, on the night of the fifth of Ju- 
ly, Ticonderoga was abandoned : the baggage, 
stores, hospital, ordnance and moveable provisions 
were dispatched to Skeensborough, by water, in the 
httle American flotilla, while the main body of the 
garrison, having crossed the lake to Fort Indepen- 
dence, defiled to the left, into Vermont. They 
were closely pursued by a detachment of the Brit- 
ish, under General Frazer, and of the Germans un- 
der General Reidesel, who, the next day, brought 
them to action, and the obstinate and sanguinary, 
conflicts at Hubberton, evinced, that although in re- 

* Only one thousand four hundred yards, from Ticonderoga, 
and one thousand five hundred from Mount Independence, on the 
opposite shore.— (Genera/ Burgoyne.) 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 77 

treat, they were slill very formidable. This little ar- 
my, led byGeneral St. Clair, after a circuitous march, 
reached the Hudson, at Batten Kill, and soon join- 
ed General Schuyler, who, with the main army, was 
a few miles above, at Fort Edward. General Bur- 
goyne, with a great body of the British troops, pro- 
ceeded, in pursuit of his enemy, up the lake, to 
Skeensborough, and destroyed the American flotilla, 
baggage and stores, while General Philips with most 
of the stores of General Burgoyne, went up lake 
George, to Fort George, situated at its head. Gen- 
eral Schuyler's army continued to retreat, down the 
Hudson, to Saratoga and Stillwater, and, at last, to 
Van Shaick's island, in the mouth of the Mohawk, 
where it took post, on the eighteenth of August. 

From Skeensborough, General Burgoyne, with 
extreme difficulty, and after several weeks of severe 
labour, and one considerable battle near fort Anne, 
cleared the passage to Fort Edward ; for General 
Schuyler, in consequence of General Burgoyne's 
halting, nearly three weeks, at Skeensborough, had 
time to throw very formidable obstructions in his 
way. He felled innumerable trees into Wood 
Creek, and across the roads by Fort Anne ; he de- 
molished bridges, and by every other means in his 
power, so impeded his march, that the British army 
did not arrive at Fort Edward, on the Hudson, till 
the 30th of July. A junction was at length formed 
at this place, between the main body, and the divi* 
sion that went by lake George. 



78 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

In order to enable General Burgoyne to move 
down the Hudson, it was necessary to transport the 
stores, boats and ammunition, a distance of sixteen 
miles over a very difficult country, from Fort 
George to Fort Edward. But still on the fifteenth 
of August, there was at Fort Edward, only four 
days' provisions in advance. 

On the sixteenth, Colonel Baum, who with his 
Germans, had been detached by Burgoyne, to seize 
a magazine of stores at Benington, in Vermont, and 
to countenance the loyalists in that quarter, was to- 
tally defeated and slain, by General Stark ; most of 
his detachment were either killed or made prison- 
ers; and Colonel Breyman, who had been sent to 
succour Baum, and who arrived on the same ground, 
a few hours after the battle, was also defeated, and 
with extreme difficulty, regained the main army 
with the greater part of his troops. 

In the mean time. Colonel St. Leger, in conse- 
quence of an arrangement, made in England, had 
proceeded, early in Aue;ust with an army of British 
and Indians, to attack For. Sfanwix, called also Fort 
Schuyler, on the Mohawk. This was intended to 
operat'^, as a diversion in favour of Burgoyne ; to 
distract the Americans, and in case of success, to 
bring dnwn a powerful force, upon their flank. 

Th.s t^xpedit'in was attended with some success, 
in the defeat of Colonel Herkimer, who fell into an 
ambuscade, while advancing with the militia, of the 
vicinity, to relieve the Fort ; he w^g slain, with ma- 



TOtJR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 79 

ny of his party; but a successful sally from the 
Fort — the reported advance of General Arnold, with 
a force greatly magnified by the artful representa- 
tions of some friendly Indians, and the fears and 
fickleness of the savages in the British army, eventu- 
ally defeated St. Leger's expedition, and caused him 
to retreat in extreme confusion and distress. 
I Thus, General Burgoyne v<;'as disappointed of any 
collateral aid from St, Leger, and the signal defeat 
! at Bennington, not only deprived him of any supply 
of provisions, from that source, but lost him a sixth 
I part of the regular troops in his army, and revealed 
the important secret, that regular troops could be 
beaten by militia. These events revived the cour- 
age of the Americans, gave them time to rally and 
, to recruit their armies, and very materially embar- 
trassed and retarded the movements of General Bur- 
goyne. 

To retreat was to abandon the objects of his ex- 
pedition, and to disappoint the expectations of his 
government; to advance, although with increasing 
difficuhies, and dangers, was therefore the only al- 
ternative. Accordingly, on the thirteenth and four- 
teenth of September, he passed the Hudson river, 
on a bridge of boats, not far from Fort Miller, 
and proceeded without any material opposition, to 
Saratoga and Stillwater, till on the seventemth, 
Ihis advanced guard was within four miles of the 
American army, now returning northward. On the 
eighteonth, the fronts of the two armies were almost 



80 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

in contact, and some skirmishing ensued, but witli- 
out bringing on a general engagement. 

Thus, we have passed in a very rapid review, the 
principal events which preceded and induced the 
crisis of General Burgoyne's expedition. The two 
armies were now so situated that the catastrophe 
could not long be averted, and the four succeeding 
weeks were pregnant with dangers and difficulties, 
and fruitful in the waste of human life. 



We had so arranged our journey, as to lodge at 
Stillwater, and we were even desirous to stay in the 
very house, which had been rendered memorable, 
by the death of a distinguished General of the Brit- 
ish army. 

This small house, which is still in tolerable re- 
pair, and is now kept as a tavern, was, for some 
time, the centre of the hospital camp ofGen.Bur- 
goyne, and was rendered very memorable by the 
events which happened in and near it. 

We arrived, at night fall, in the midst of a hard 
rain: obtained the refreshments we needed, and 
made ourselves comfortable for the night. Willing 
to arrest the impressions of the moment, I wrote 
down such thoughts as the scene suggested. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 81 

HOUSE,* IN WHICH GENERAL FRAZER DIED— 

Ten 0^ clock at night. 

We are now on memorable ground. Here much 
precious blood was shed, and now, in the silence 
and solitude of a very dark and rainy night — the 
family asleep, and nothing heard but the rain and 
the Hudson, gently murmuring along, I am writing 
in the very house ; and my table stands, on the very 
spot in the room where General Frazer breathed 
his last, on the eighth of October, 1777. 

He was mortally wounded in the last of the two 
desperate battles fought on the neighbouring heights, 
and in the midst of the conflict, was brought to this 
house by the soldiers. Before me lies one of the 
bullets, shot on that occasion ; they are often found, 
in ploughing the battle field. 

Blood is asserted, by the people of the house, to 
have been visible here, on the floor, till a very re- 
cent period. 

General Frazer was high in command, in the Brit- 
ish army, and was almost idolized by them : they 
had the utmost confidence in his skill and valour, 
and that the Americans entertained a similar opin- 
ion of him, is sufficiently evinced by the following 
anecdote, related to me at Ballston Springs, in 1797, 

* In the former edition, this was named Swords' House — ^but I 
am informed by Gen'l. Hoyt, that Swords' House, mentioned in 
Gen'l. Burgoyne's " State of the Expedition," was two miles high- 
er up the Hudson, (1824.) 



82 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC* 

by the Hon. Richard Brent, then a member of Con- 
gress, from Virginia,* who derived the fact from 
General Morgan's own mouth. 

In the battle of October the seventh, the last pitch- 
ed battle, that was fought between the two armies, 
General Frazer mounted on an iron grey horse, was 
very conspicuous. He was all activity, courage, 
and vigilance, riding from one part of his division 
to another, and animating the troops by his exam- 
ple. Wherever he was present, every thing pros- 
pered, and, when confusion appeared in any part of 
the line, order and energy were restored by his arri- 
val. 

Colonel Morgan.f with his Virginia riflemen, was 
i-mmediately opposed to Frazer's division of the 
army. 

It had been concerted, before the commence- 
ment of the battle, that while the New-Hampshire 
and the New-York troops attacked the British left, 
Colonel Morgan with his regiment of Virginia riflle- 
men, should make a circuit so as to come upon the 
British right, and attack them there. In this attempt, 
he was favoured by a woody hill, to the foot of 
which the British right extended. When the at- 
tack commenced on the British left, " true to his 

* Since deceased. 

t Afterwards General Morgan— the hero of the battle of the 
Cowpens, and distinguished through the whole war, by a serie? 
of the most important services. 



TOUR BETWFEN HARTFORD AND QUFBEC. 83 

purpose, Morgan at this critical moment, poured 
down like a torrent from the hill, and attacked the 
right of the enemy in front and flank."* The right 
wing soon made a moveiient to support the left, 
which was assailed with increased violence, and 
while executing this movement, General Frazer re- 
ceived his mortal wound. 

In the midst of this sanguinary battle, Colonel 
Morgan took a few of his best riflemen aside ; men 
in whose fidelity, and fatal precision of aim, he 
could repose the most perfect confidence, and said 
to them : "that gallant officer is General Frazer ; I 
admire and respect him, but it is necessary that he 
should die — take your stations in that wood and do 
your duty." Within a few moments General Fra- 
zer fell, mortally wounded f 

How far, such personal designation is justifiable, 
has often been questioned, but those who vindicate 
war at all, contend, that to shoot a distinguished offi- 
cer, and thus to accelerate the conclusion of a bloody 
battle, operates to save lives, and that it is, morally j 
no worse, to kill an illustrious, than an obscure indi- 
vidual ; a Frazer, than a common soldier j a Nel- 

* Wilkinsoa's Memoirs, Vol. I. p. 268. 

t He was supported on his horse by two officers, till he reached 
his tent ; he said that he saw the man who shot him, that he was 
a riflemad, and posted in a tree. 



84 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBLC, 

SON,* than a common sailor. But, there is some- 
thing very revolting to humane feelings, in a mode 
of warfare, which converts its ordinary chances into 
a species of military execution. Such instances, 
were, however, frequent, during the campaign of 
General Burgoyne; and his aid-de-camp, Sir Fran- 
cis Clark, and many other British officers, were vic- 
tims of American markmanship. 

The Baroness Reidesel, the lady of Major Gene- 
ral the Baron Reidesel, in some very interesting 
letters of hers, published at Berlin, in 1800, and in 
part republished in translation, in Wilkinson's me- 
moirs, states that she, with her three little children, 
(for she had, with this tender charge, followed the 
fortunes of her husband, across the Atlantic, and 
through the horrors of the campaign,) occupied this 
house, which was the only refuge, within protection 
of the British armj. The rooms which it contain- 
ed remain, to this day, as they then were, although 
some other rooms have been since added. 

The house stood, at that time, perhaps one hun- 
dred yards from the river, at the foot of the hill ; 
it was afterwards removed to the road side, close 
by the river, where it now stands. 

The Baroness, with her little children, occupied 
the room in which we took tea, and General Fra- 
zer, when brought in wounded, was laid in the other 
room. In fact, as it was the only shelter that re- 
mained standing, it was soon converted into a hos- 

* Nelson was killed by a sharp ^hooter from the tops of the San- 
tissiroa Triaid^ida. 



TOUB BETWEEN HARTFORD AKD QtTBBEO. 85 

pital, and manj other wounded and dying officers 
were brought to this melancholy refuge. 

Thus a refined and dehcate lady, educated in all 
the elegance of affluence and of elevated rank, with 
her little children, was compelled to witness the 
agonies of bleeding and dying men, among whom, 
some of her husband's, and of her own particular 
friends, expired before her eyes. She imparted to 
them of her few remaining comforts, and soothed 
them by offices of kindness. This distinguished 
lady was not without female companions, who shar- 
ed her distresses, or felt with keenness their own 
misfortunes. Among them was Lady Harriet Ack- 
land, the wife of Major Ackland, who commanded 
the British grenadiers. Nearly every thing that has 
been said of the Baroness Reidesel, will apply to 
her. News came, from time to time, from the 
heights, that one officer and another was killed, and 
among the rest, that Major Ackland was desperate- 
ly wounded, and a prisoner with the enemy. 

Major (called in General Burgoyne's narrative, 
Colonel,) Ackland, had been wounded in the battle 
of Hubberton, but had recovered, and resumed the 
command of the grenadiers. He was wounded, the 
second time, in the battle of October 7, and found 
by General (then Colonel.) Wilkinson, who gives 
the following interesting statement of the occur- 
rence:* " With the troops, I pursued the hard 

pressed, flying enemy, passing over killed and 
wounded, until I heard one exclaim, 'protect me, 

* Memoirs, yol. I. p. 271. 
8* 



86 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Sir, against this boy.' Turning my eyes, it was my 
fortune to arrest the purpose of a lad, thirteen or 
fourteen years old, in the act of taking aim at a 
wounded oflicer, who lay in the angle of a worm 
fence. Inquiring his rank, he answered, 'I had the 
honour to command the Grenadiers ;" of course I 
knew him to be Major Ackland, who had been 
brought from the field to this place, on the back of 
a Captain Shrimpton, of his own corps, under a 
heavy fire, and was deposited here, to save the 
lives of both."* 

" I dismoimted, took him by the hand, and ex- 
pressed hopes that he was not badly wounded ; not 
badly,' replied this gallant oflicer, and accomplish- 
ed gentleman, ' but very inconveniently — I am shot 
through both legs ; will you, Sir, have the good- 
ness to have me conveyed to your camp?' I direct- 
ed my servant to alight, and we lifted Ackland into 
his (the servant's,) seat, and ordered him to be con- 
ducted to head quarters." 

* Anbury relate?, (Travels, vol. I. p. 394,) that after Ackland 
was deposited, by Captain Shrimpton, he offered fifty fjuineas to 
the Grenadiers, who were flying by him, if any one of ihem would 
convey him into camp ; that a very stout Grenadier undertook it, 
but being overtaken by the Americans, both were made prisoners. 
Anbury's book, however, altliough it contains many interesting 
Recurrences, which, so far a? they are stated on his own know- 
ledge, are probably related with correctness — is evidently a made 
up work, and, wh'it is curious enough, many pages of it, and by 
far the most important parts, are taken, almost verbatim, from 
General Burgoyne's " State of the Expedition from Cana- 
da" — althou2:h that work was not published, till three years after 
Anbury's letters are dated. 



TOUR HKTWEEN HARTFORD and QUEBEC. 87 

Two other ladies, who were in the same house 
with madam Reidesel, received news, the one, that 
her husband was wounded, and the other, that hers 
was slain ; and the Baroness herself expected, eve- 
ry moment, to hear similar tidings; for the Baron's 
duties, as commander in chief of the German troops, 
required him to be frequently exposed to the most 
imminent perils. 

The Baroness Reidesel gives, in her narrative, 
the following recital, respecting General Frazer's 
death : — " severe trials awaited us, and on the 7th 
of October, our mi--fortunes began ; I was at break- 
fast, with my husband, and heard that something 
was intended. On the same day, I expected the 
Generals Burgoyne, Philips and Frazer,to dine with 
us. I saw a great movement among the troops ; my 
husband told me it was a mere reconnoissance, 
which gave me no concern, as it often happened. 
1 walked out of the house, and met several Indians, 
in their war dresses, with guns in their hands. When 
I asked them where they were going, they cried 
out, War ! War ! (meaning that they were going to 
battle.) This filled me with apprehensions, and I 
had scarcely got home, before I heard reports of 
cannon and musketry, whi* h grew louder by de- 
grees, till at last the noise became excessive. 
About four o'clock in the afternoon, instead of the 
guests whom 1 expected, General Fiazer was 
brought, on a litfer, mor<a!!y wounded. The table, 
which was already set, was instantly removed, and 



88 TOUR BETWEEN IIAIITFORD AN'D QUEIJEC. 

a bed placed in its stead, for the wounded General. 
I sat trembling in a corner; the noise grew louder, 
and the alarm increased: the thought that my hus- 
band might, perhaps, be brought in, wounded in the 
same manner, was terrible to me, and distressed 
me exceedingly. 

General Frazer said to the surgeon, 'tell me if 
my wound is mortal — do not flatter me.' The ball 
had passed through his body, and, unhappily for the 
General, he had eaten a very hearty breakfast, by 
which the stomach was distended, and the ball, as 
the surgeon said, had passed through it. I 
heard him often exclaim, with a sigh, 'O fatal 
ambition! Poor General Burgoyne! O, my 
POOR wife!' He was asked if he had any request 
to make, to which he replied, that 'if General 
Burgoyne would permit it he should like to 

BE buried at six o'cLOCK IN THE EVENING, ON THE 
TOP OF A mountain, IN A REDOUBT WHICH HAD 

BEEN BUILT THERE.' Towards evening, 1 saw my 
husband coming; then I forgot all my sorrows, and 
thanked God that he was spared to me." 

The German Baroness spent much of the night 
in comforting lady Harriet Ackland, and in taking 
care of her children, whom she had put to bed. Of 
herself she says — ''I could not go to sleep, as I had 
General Frazer and all the other wounded gentle- 
men in my room, and I was sadly afraid my chil- 
dren would awake, and, by their crying, disturb the 
dying man, in his last moments, who often address- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 89 

ed me, and apologized '^for the trouble he. gave me.* 
About three o'clock in the morning, I was told he 
could not hold out much longer; I had desired to 
be informed of the near approach of this sad crisis, 
and I then wrapped up my children in their clothes, 
and went with them into the room below. About 
eight o'clock in the morning, he died. After he 
was laid out, and his corpse wrapped up in a sheet, 
we came again into the room, and we had this sor- 
rowful sight before us the whole day; and, to add 
to the melancholy scene, almost every moment 
some officer of my acquaintance was brought in 
wounded." 

What a situation for delicate females — a small 
house, filled with bleeding and expiring men — the 
battle roaring, and raging all around — little children 
to be soothed and protected, and female domestics? 
in despair, to be comforted — cordials and aids, such 
as were attainable, to be administered to the wound- 
ed and dying — ruin impending over the army, and 
they knew not what insults, worse than death, might 
await themselves, from those whom they had been 
taujrht to consider as base, as well as cowardly. 

Both tlipse illustrious females learned, not long 
after, a different lesson. I have already remarked, 
that Major Arkland was wounded and taken pris- 
oner. His lady, with heroic courage, and exempla- 
ry conjugal tenderness, passed dow the river, to 
our army, with a letter from General Bur^;oyne to 
General Gates ; and, althoui^h somewhat detained 



90 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

on the river, because it was night when she arriv- 
ed, and the sentinel would not permit her to land, 
till he had received orders from his superior, she 
was, as soon as her errand was made known, re- 
ceived by the Americans, with the utmost respect, 
kindness, and delicacy. Her husband, many years 
after the war, even lost his life in a duel, which he 
fought with an officer who called the Americans 
cowards. Ackland espoused their cause, and vin- 
dicated it in this unhappy manner. 

General Burgoyne, in his " State of the Expedition 
from Canada," has mentioned, with much respect 
and feeling, the case of lady Harriet Ackland. It 
seems she came with her husband to Canada, early 
in the year 1776, and accompanied him through that 
campaign, in all the varietiesof travelling and of the 
seasons, " to attend, in a poor hut, at Chambly, up- 
on his sick bed.'' At the opening of the campaign 
of 1777, she, by the positive injunctions of her hus- 
band, remained at Ticonderoga, till, hearing of his 
being wounded at Castleton, she went over to him, 
andj after his recovery, persisted in following his 
fortunes, with no other vehicle, than a little two- 
wheeled tumbril, constructed in the camp on the 
Hudson. She, with the Major, was, on a particular 
occasion near perishing in the flames, in conse- 
quence of their hut taking fire in the night. As the 
grenadiers, whom Major Ackland commanded, 
were attached to the advanced corps, this lady was 
exposed to all their fatigues, and to many of their 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 91 

perils, and was at last obliged, during the battle of 
the 7th of October, to take refuge " among the 
wounded and dying." 

With respect to her proposal, to go over to the 
American camp, to take care of her husband. Gener- 
al Burgoyne remarks,* " Though I was ready to be- 
lieve, (for I had experienced,) that patience and 
fortitude, in a supreme degree, were to be found, 
as well as every other virtue, under the most tender 
forms, I was astonished at this proposal. After so 
long an agitation of the spirits, exhausted, not only 
for want of rest, but absolutely want of food, drench- 
ed in rains for twelve hours together, that a woman 
should be capable of delivering herself to the ene- 
my, probably in the night, and uncertain of what 
hands she might first fall into, appeared an effort, 
above human nature. The assistance I was enabled 
to give, was small indeed ; 1 had not even a cup of 
wine to offer her ; but I was told, she had found 
from some kind and fortunate hand, a little rum and 
dirty water. All I could furnish to her, was an 
open boat, and a few lines, written upon dirty and 
wet paper, to General Gates, recommending her to 

his protection." " It is due to justice, at the 

close of this adventure, to say, that she was receiv- 
ed, and accommodated by General Gates, with all the 
humanity and respect, that her rank, her merite, and 
"her fortunes deserved." 

* State of the expedition, &c. page 126. 



92 TOUR BETWEEM HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

I omit to quote General Burgoyne's statement, that 
lady Harriet Ackland was detained through the 
night in the open boat, because, we are now in- 
formed, on the authority of Generals Wilkinson* and 
Dearborn, that this was a total misrepresentation, 
although,probabIy, not originating with General Bur- 
goyne. It seems General Dearborn (then a Major,) 
commanded, at the post where the boat was hailed. 
As soon as the character of the lady was known, she 
was immediately provided with a comfortable apart- 
ment, and refreshments, and fire, and, in the morn- 
ing, was forwarded on her way to the camp. " Let 
such," adds General Burgoyne, "as are affected by 
these circumstances of alarm, hardship, and danger, 
recollect that the subject of them was a woman, of 
the most tender and delicate frame ; of the gentlest 
manners ; habituated to all the soft elegancies, and 
refined enjoyments, that attend high birth and for- 
tune; and far advanced in a state, in which the ten- 
der cares, always due to the sex, become indispen- 
sably necessary. Her mind alone was formed for 
such trials.'' 

Lady Reidesel, immediately on the surrender of 
the army, received on the spot, from Genera' Schuy- 
ler, (and that spot was his own devastated estate,) 
the most kind and soothing attentions, which she and 
her children so eminently needed, and afterwards, 
in the family of this magnanimous and generous 

* Memoirs, Vol. I. p. 283. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 93 

man, she experienced from Mrs. Schuyler and her 
daughters, all the attentions and sympathies of 
friendship. 

After the surrender, and the officers had gone 
over to General Gates' army, General Reidesel sent 
a message to his lady, to come to him with her chil- 
dren. She says in her narrative, " 1 seated myself 
once more, in my dear calash, and then rode 
through the American camp. As I passed on, I 
observed, (and this was a great consolation to me,) 
that no one eyed me with looks of resentment, but 
they all greeted us, and even showed compassion in 
their countenances, at the sight of a woman with 
small children. I was, I confess, afraid to go over 
to the enemy, as it was quite a new situation to me. 
When I drew near the tents, a handsome man ap- 
proached and met me, took my children from the 
calash, and hugged and kissed them, which affected 
me almost to tears. " You tremble," said he, ad- 
dressing himself to me, " be not afraid." " No," I 
answered, " you seem so kind and tender to mj 
children, it inspires me with courage." He now 

led me to the tent of General Gates." " All 

the Generals remained to dine with General Gates.'* 
"The same gentleman who received me so kind- 
ly, now came and said to me, " You will be very 
much embarrassed to eat with all these gentlemen ; 
come with your children to my tent, where I will 
prepare for you a frugal dinner, and give it with a 
free will." I said, " you are certainly a hus- 



sis*- 



94 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

BAND AND A FATHER, you have shcwn me so much 
kindness.'' 

** I now found that he was General Schuyler. He 
treated me with excellent smoked tongue, beef- 
steaks, potatoes, and good bread and butter ! Nev- 
er could I have wished to eat a better dinner : I 
was content ; I saw all around me were so like- 
wise ; and what was better than all, my husband 
was out of danger ! When we had dined, he told me 
his residence was at Albany, and that General Bur- 
goyne intended to honour him as his guest, and in- 
vited myself and children to do so likewise. I ask- 
ed my husband how I should act ; he told me to 

accept the invitation." " Some days after 

this, we arrived at Albany, where we so often wish- 
ed ourselves ; but, we did not enter it, as we ex- 
pected we should, victors ! We were received by 
the good General Schuyler, his wife, and daughters, 
not as enemies, but kind friends ; and they treated 
us with the most marked attention and politeness, 
as they did General Burgoyne, who had caused 
General Schuyler's beautifully finished house to be 
burnt ; in fact, they behaved like persons of exalted 
minds, who determined to bury all recollection of 
their ozun injuries in the contemplation of ow mis- 
fortunes. General Burgoyne was struck with Gen- 
eral Schuyler's generosity, and said to him, " You 
show me great kindness, although I have done you 
much injury," " That was the fate of roar" repli- 
ed the brave man, " let us say no more about it.' 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 95 

Thus, not only General Burgoyne, but a number 
©f the most distinguished officers of the army, in- 
cluding Baron Reidesel, and Major Ackland, and 
their ladies, were actually lodged for weeks, and 
most hospitably entertained, in the house of the 
man, whose elegant villa at Saratoga, they had wan- 
tonly* burnt, and whose fine estate there they had 
spoiled. 

******* 

Retiring at a late hour to my bed, it will be easi- 
ly perceived, that the tender and heroic ideas, as- 
sociated with this memorable house, would strongly 
possess my mind. The night was mantled in black 
clouds, and impenetrable darkness ; the rain, in- 
creasing, descended in torrents, upon the roof of 
this humble mansion ; the water, urged from the 
heights, poured with loud and incessant rumbling, 
through a neighbouring aqueduct j and the Hud- 
son, as if conscious that blood had once stained its 
waters, and its banks, rolled along with sullen mur- 
murs ;— the distinguished persons, who, forty-two 
years since, occupied this tenement — the agonized 
females — the terrified, imploring children— and the 
gallant chiefs, in all the grandeur of heroic suffering 
and death, were vividly present to my mind — all the 

* It was asserted, in justification, that the house was burnt to 
prevent its being a cover for the Americans, and that the estate 
was ravaged in foraging. 



96 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBeC. 

realities of the night, and the subhme and tender 
images of the past, conspired to give my faculties 
too much activity for sleep, and I will not deny that 
the dawning light was grateful to my eyes ! 



THE BATTLE GROUND. 

The rain having ceased, I was on horseback at 
early dawn, with a veteran guide to conduct me to 
the battle ground. Although he was seventy-five 
years old, he did not detain me a moment ; in con- 
sequence of an appointment the evening before, he 
was waiting my arrival at his house, a mile below 
our inn, and, declining any aid, he mounted a tall 
horse from the ground. His name was Ezra Buel,* 
a native of Lebanon in Connecticut, which place 
he left in his youth, and was settled here, at the 
time of General Burgoyne's invasion. He acted, 
through the whole time, as a guide to the American 
army, and was one of three who were constantly 
employed in that service. His duty led him to be 
always foremost, and in the post of danger; and he 
was, therefore, admirably qualified for my purpose. 

* Called colloquially, in the neighbourhood, Major Buel, a rank 
which he never had in the army, but which was facetiously as- 
signed him, while in the service, by his brother guides. He is 
much respected as a worthy man. — 1820. 

Major Buel, I believe, still lives. \ saw him at Ballston 
Springs, in July 1823, still active and useful, although almost 
fourscore ; he was then acting as crier of a State Court at that 
time in session at Ballstown.— Mar. 1824. 



fOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QU^EBEG. 97 

The two great battles which decided the fate of 
Burgoyne's army, were fought, the first on the 19th 
of September, and the last, on the 7th of October, 
on Bemus' heights, and very nearly on the same 
ground, which is about two miles west of the river. 

The river is, in this region, bordered for many 
miles, by a continued meadow, of no great breadth ; 
upon this meadow, there was then, as there is now, 
a good road, close to the river, and parallel to it. 
Upon this road, marched the heavy artillery and 
baggage, constituting the left wing of the British ar- 
my, while the Elite, forming the right wing and 
composed of the light troops, was kept constantly 
in advance, on the heights which bound the meadows. 

The American army was south and west of the 
British, its right wing on the river, and its left rest- 
ing on the heights. We passed over a part of their 
camp a little below Stillwater.* 

* In May 1821, I again visited these battle grounds, and availed 
myself of that opportunity, in company with my faithful old guide 
Major Buel, to explore the camp of General Gates. It is situated 
about three miles below Smith's tavern, (the house where General 
Frazer died,) and is easily approached by a cross road, which turns 
up the heights from the great river road. It is not more than half a 
mile from the river to the camp. I found it an interesting place,and 
would recommend it to travellers to visit this spot, as they will 
thus obtain a perfectly clear idea of the relative position of the 
hostile armies, and of the route pursued by the Americans when 
they marched out to ba ttle. The outlines of the camp are still dis- 
tinctly visible, beiog marked by the lines of defence, which were 
thrown up on the occasion, and which, although depressed by 
time, will long be conspicuous, if they are not levelled by the 
plough. My guide pointed out the ground occupied by the differ- 
ent corps of the army. Col. Morgan, with the Virginian Rifle- 

9 * 



98 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

A great part of the battle ground was occupied 
by lofty forest tre<;s, principally pine, with here and 
there, a few cleared fields, of which the most con- 
men was in advance, on the right, that is, nearest the river ; the 
advance, was the post always coveted by this incomparable corps, 
and surely none could claim it with more propriety. There was 
much danger that the enemy would attempt to storm the camp of 
the Americans, and haa^they been successful in either of the 
great battles (Sept. 19, and Oct. 7,) they would, without doubt, 
have attacked the camp. 

The most interesting object that I saw in this camp, was the 
house which was Gen. Gates' liead quarters. I am afraid that the 
traveller may not long find this memorable house, for it was much 
dilapidated — a part of the roof had fallen in, and the winds whis- 
tled through the naked timbers. One room was however, tenant- 
able, and was occupied by a cooper and his family. From the 
style of the pannel work and finishing of this room, the house ap- 
pears to have been, in its day, one of the better sort — the pan- 
nels were large and handsome, and the door was still ornamented 
with brass handles. — Here Sir Francis Clark, Aid du Camp to 
Gen. Burgoyne, being mortally wounded and take i prisoner, lan- 
guished and died. Gen. Wilkinson has recorded some interesting 
passages of his last moments, particularly his animated discus- 
sion with Gen. Gates on the merits of the contest. The recollec- 
tion of the fate of this brave but unfortunate officer will always be 
associated with this building, while a single timber of it remains. 

My guide conducted me from the American camp alon"' the 
summit of the heights, by the same route, which was pursued by 
our gallant countrymen, when they advanced to meet their for- 
midable foe, and I had the satisfaction of treading the ground 
which they trod, in the silence and solemnity of impending conflict. 

In pursuing this route, the traveller, if accompanied by an in- 
telligent guide, will have a very interesting opportunity of mark- 
ing the exact places where the advanced guards and front lines of 
the contending armies met. In this manner we advanced quite to 
Freeman's farm, the great scene of slaughter, and thence descend- 
ed again to the centre of the British encampment on the plains. 



IfOUK BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 99 

spicuous in these sanguinary scenes, was called 
F-eennan's farm, and is so called in General Bur- 
goyne's plans. Such is nearly the present situation 
of these heights, only there is more cleared land; 
the gigantic trees have been principally felled, but 
a considerable number remain as witnesses to pos- 
terity ; they still show the wounds, made in their 
trunks and branches, by the missiles of contending 
armies ; their roots still penetrate the soil, that was 
made fruitful by the blood of the brave, and their 
sombre foliage still murmurs with the breeze, which 
once sighed, as it bore the departing spirits along. 

My veteran guide, warmed by my curiosity, and 
recalling the feelings of his prime, led me, with 
amazing rapidity, and promptitude, over fences and 
ditches— through water and mire — through ravines 
and defiles —through thick forests, and open fields — 
and up and down very steep hills ; in short, through 
many places, where, alone, I would not have ven- 
tured; but, it would have been shameful for me 
not to follow where a man of seventy-five would 
lead, and to hesitate to explore inpeace^ the ground, 
which the defenders of their country, and their 
foes once trod, in steps of blood. 

On our way to Freeman's farm, we traced the 
line of the British encampment, still marked by a 
breast work of logs, now rotten, but retaining their 
forms ; they were, at the time, covered with earth, 
and the barrier between contending armies, is now 
a fence, to mark the peaceful divisions of agricul- 
ture. This breast work, I suppose to be a part of 



100 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEe, 

the line of encampment, occupied by General Bur- 
goyne, after the battle of the 19th of September, 
and which was stormed on the evening of the 7th of 
October. 

The old man showed me the exact spot, where 
an accidental skirmish, between advanced parties of 
the two armies, soon brought on the general and 
bloody battle of September 19. 

This was on Freeman's farm, a field which was 
then cleared, although surrounded by forest. The 
British picket here occupied a small house,* when 
a part of Col. Morgan's corps fell in with, and im- 
mediately drove them from it, leaving the house al- 
most "encircled with their dead," The pursuing 
party, immediately, and very unexpectedly, fell in 
with the British line, and were in part captured, 
and the rest dispersed. 

This incident occurred at half past 12 o'clock ; 
there was then an intermission till one, when the 
action was sharply renewed ; but it did not become 
general, till three, from which time it raged with 
unabated fury, till night. " The theatre of action'' 
(says General Wilkinson,! was such that although 
the combatants changed ground adozen times, in the 
course of the day, the contest terminated on the spot 
where it began. This may be explained in a few 

* Major Forbes, of the British army, states, that the American 
picket occupied the house; both facts might hare been true at 
different periods of the affair, 

t Memoirs, Vol. I. p. 240. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 101 

words. The British line was formed on an eminence 
in a thin pine wood, having before it Freeman's 
farm, an oblong field, stretching from the centre to- 
wards its right, the ground in front sloping gently 
down to the verge of this field, which was bordered, 
on the opposite side, by a close wood : the sanguina- 
ry scene lay in the cleared ground, between the emi- 
nence occupied by the enemy, and the wood just 
described; the fire of our marksmen from this 
wood, was too deadly to be withstood, by the ene- 
my, in line, and when they gave way and broke, 
our men rushing from their covert, pursued them to 
the eminence, where, having their flanks protect- 
ed, they rallied, and charging in turn, drove us back 
into the wood, from whence a dreadful fire would 
again force them to fall back ; and in this manner, 
did the battle fluctuate, like waves of a stormy sea, 
with alternate advantages for four hours, without 
one moment's intermission. The British artillery 
fell into our possession, at every charge, but we 
could neither turn the pieces upon the enemy nor 
bring them oflf; the wood prevented the last, and 
the want of a match the first, as the lintstock was 
invariably, carried off, and the rapidity of the tran- 
sitions did not allow us time to provide one ; the 
slaughter of this brigade of artillerists was remarka- 
ble, the Captain (Jones) and thirty-six men being 
killed or wounded out of forty-eight. It was truly 
a gallant conflict, in which death, by familiarity, lost 
his terrors, and certainly a drawn battle, as night 



102 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

alone terminated it : the British army keeping its 
ground in rear of the field of action, and our corps, 
when they could no longer distinguish objects, re- 
tiring to their own camp. Yet General Burgoyne 
claimed a victory." 

It had, however, with respect to him, all the con- 
sequences of a defeat: his loss was between five 
and six hundred, while ours was but little niiore than 
half that number ; his loss was irreparable, ours 
easily repaired, and in proportion to our entire ar- 
my, as well as absolutely, it was much less than his. 

The stress of the action as regards the British, 
lay, principally on the twentieth, twenty-first and 
sixty-second regiments ; the latter which was five 
hundred strong when it left Canada, was reduced 
to less than sixty-men, and to four or five officers.* 

General Burgoyne states that there was scarcely 
ever an interval of a minute in the smoke, when 
some British officer was not shot by the American 
riflemen, posted in the trees, in the rear and on the 
flank of their own line. A shot which was meant 
for General Burgoyne, severely wounded Captain 
Green, an Aid du Camp of General Phillips: the 
mistake was owing to the Captain's having a richly 
laced furniture to his saddle, which caused the 
marksman to mistake him for the General. 

Such was the ardor of the Americans, that, as 
General Wilkinson states, the wounded men, after 

* Gordon. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 103 

having their wounds dressed, in many instances, re- 
turned again into the battle. 

The battle of the seventh of October was fought 
on the same ground, but it was not so stationary ; 
it commenced farther to the right, and extended, in 
its various periods, over more surface, eventually 
occupying not only Freeman's farm, but it was 
urged by the Americans, to the very camp of the 
enemy, which, towards night, was most impetuous- 
ly stormed, and in part carried. 

The interval between the nineteenth of Septem- 
ber, and the seventh of October, was one of great 
anxiety to both armies ; "*not a night passed, (adds 
General Burgoyne,) without tiring, and sometimes 
concerted attacks upon our pickets ; no foraging 
party could be made without great detachments to 
cover it; it was the plan of the enemy to harrass 
the army, by constant alarms, and their superiority 
of numbers enabled them to attempt it, without fa- 
tigue to themselves. By being habituated to fire, 
our soldiers became indifferent to it, and were ca- 
pable of eating or sleeping when it was very near 
them ; but I do not believe that either officer or 
soldier ever slept during that interval, without his 
clothes, or that any general officer, or commander 
of a regiment, passed a single night, without being 
upon his legs, occasionally, at different hoursy and 
constantly, an hour before day light.' 

* State of the Expedition 



5» 



104 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

The battle of the seventh was brought on by a 
movement of General Burgojne, who caused one 
thousand five hundred men, with ten pieces of 
artillery, to march towards the left of the American 
army for the purpose of discovering whether it was 
possible to force a passage ; or in case a retreat of 
the royal army should become indispensable, to dis- 
lodge the Americans from their intrenchments, and 
also to cover a foraging excursion which had now be- 
come pressingly necessary. It was about the middle 
of the afternoon, that the British were observed ad- 
vancing, and the Americans, with small arms, lost 
no time in attacking the British grenadiers and ar- 
tillery, although under a tremendous fire from the 
latter ; the battle soon extended along the whole 
line : Colonel Morgan, at the same moment, attack- 
ed, with his riflemen, on the right wing; Colonel 
Ackland, the commander of the grenadiers, fell, 
wounded ; the grenadiers were defeated, and most 
of the artillery taken, after great slaughter. 

At the end of a most sanguinary contest, of less than 
one hour, the discomfiture and retreat of the British 
became general, and they had scarcely regained their 
camp, before the lines were stormed with the great- 
est fury, and part of Lord Balcarras' camp, was for 
a short time in our possession. 

I saw this spot, and also that where the Germans, 
under Colonel Breyman, forming the right reserve 
of the army, were stormed, in their encampment, 
by General Learned, and Colonel Brooks, now 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 105 

Governor Brooks, of Massachusetts. General Ar- 
nold was wounded on this occasion ,• Colonel Brey- 
man was killed ; and the Germans were either cap- 
tured, slain, or forced to retreat in the most precip- 
itate manner, leaving the British encampment on 
the right, entirely unpiotected, and liable to be as- 
sailed the next morning. All the British officers 
bear testimony to the valour and obstinacy of the at- 
tacks of the Americans. The fact was, the British 
were sorely defeated, routed, and vigorously pur- 
sued to their lines, which it seems probable, would 
have been entirely carried by assault, had not dark- 
ness, as in the battle of the 19th, put an end to the 
sanguinary contest. It is obvious, from General 
Burgoyne's own account, and from the testimony 
of his officers, that this was a severe defeat j and 
such an one as has rarely been experienced by a 
British army; this army was reduced by it to the 
greatest distress, and nothing but night saved them 
from destruction. 

I was on the ground where the grenadiers, and 
where the artillery were stationed. " Here, upon 
this hill," (said my hoary guide,) on the very spot 
where we now stand, the dead men lay, thicker 
than ever you saw sheaves on a fruitful harvest 
field." " Were they British, or Americans ?" 
"Both," he replied, '* but principally British." 1 
suppose that it is of this ground, that General Wil- 
kinson remarks, " it presented a scene of compli- 
cated horror and exultation. In the square space 

10 



106 TOUR BETWEEN HARxrORD AND QUEBEC. 

of twelve or fifteen yards, lay eighteen grenadiers 
in the agony of death ; and three officers, propped 
up against stumps of trees, two of them mortally 
wounded, bleeding, and almost speechless." 

My guide, proceeding with his narrative, said, 
' there stood a British field piece, which had been 
twice taken, and retaken, and finally remained in 
»ur possession : I was on the ground, and said to 
an American Colonel, who came up at the mo- 
ment, ' Colonel, we have taken this piece, and now 
we want you to swear it true to America ;' so the 
Colonel swore it true, and we turned it around, and 
fired upon the British, with their own cannon, and 
with their own ammunition, still remaining uncon- 
sumed in their boxes." I presume General Wil- 
kinson alludes to the same anecdote, when he says, 
" I found the courageous Colonel Cilley a straddle 
on a brass twelve pounder, and exulting in the cap- 
ture." 

1 was solicitous to see the exact spot where Gen- 
eral Frazer, received his mortal wound. My old 
guide knew it perfectly well, and pointed it out to 
me. It is in a meadow, just on the right of the 
road, after passing a blacksmith's shop, and going 
south a few rods. The blacksmith's shop, is on a 
road, which runs parallel to the Hudson — it stands 
elevated, and overlooks Freeman's farm. 

The night of October 7th, was a most critical one 
for the royal army; in the course of it, they aban- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 107 

doned their camp, changed theirwhole position, and 
retreated to their works upon the heights, contigu- 
ous to the river, and immediately behind the hos 
pital. 

I saw various places, where the dead were inter- 
red ; a rivulet, or creek, passes through the battle 
ground, and still washes out from its banks, the 
bones of the slain. This rivulet is often mentioned 
in the accounts of these battles, and the deep ravine 
through which it passes ; on our return, we follow- 
ed this ravine, and rivulet, through the greater part 
of their course, till they united with the Hudson 
river. 

Farm houses are dispersed, here and there, over 
the field of battle, and the people often find, even 
now, gun-barrels and bayonets, cannon balls, grape 
shot, bullets, and human bones. Of the three last, I 
took from one of these people, some painful speci- 
mens ; — some of the bullets were battered and mis- 
shaped, evincing that they had come into collision 
with opposing obstacles. 

Entire skeletons are occasionally found ; a man 
told me, that, in ploughing, during the late summer, 
he turned one up ; it was not covered more than 
three inches with earth ; it lay on its side, and the 
arms were in the form of a bow ; it was, probably* 
some solitary victim, that never was buried. Such 
are the memorials still existing, of these great mili- 
tary events ; great, not so much on account of the 
numbers of the actors, as from the momentous inte- 



108 TOUR BETWEEN HAlllfORD AND QUEBEC. 

rests at stake, and from the magnanimous efforts t» 
which they gave origin. 

I would not envy that man his state of feeling, who 
could visit such fields of battle without emotion, or 
who, (being an American,) could fail to indulge admi- 
ration and affection, for the soldiers and martyrs of 
liberty, and respect for the valour of their enemies. 



GENERAL FRAZER'S GRAVE. 

Having taken my guide home to breakfast, we 
made use of his knowledge of the country, to iden- 
tify with certainty, the place of General Frazer's 
interment. 

General Burgoyne mentions, two redoubts, that 
were thrown up, on the hills behind his hospital ; 
they are both still very distinct, and in one of these, 
which is called the great redoubt, by the officers of 
General Burgoyne's army, General Frazer was bu- 
ried. It is true, it has been disputed, which is the 
redoubt in question, but our guide stated to us, that 
within his knowledge, a British Sergeant, three or 
four years, after the surrender of Burgoyne's army 
Came, and pointed out the grave. We went to the 
spot; it is within the redoubt, on the top of the hill, 
nearest to the house, where the General died, and 
corresponds with the plate in Anbury's travels, 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 109 

taken from an original drawing, made by Sir Francis 
Clark, aid de catip to General Burgoyne, and with 
the statement of the General in his defence, as well 
as with the account of Madam Reidesel. 

General Frazer, when dying, sent with the "kind- 
est expression of his affection, for General Burgoyne, 
a request, that he might be carried without parade, 
by the soldiers of his corps, to the great redoubt, 
and buried there." 

The circumstances of this memorable interment, 
have been often mentioned. 

The body, attended by General Burgoyne, and 
the other principal officers of the army, who could 
not resist the impulse to join the procession, moved, 
winding slowly up the hill, within view of the great- 
er part of both armies, while an incessant cannonade* 
from the Americans, who observed a collection of 
people, without knowing the occasion, covered the 
procession with dust;— the clergyman, the Rev. 
Mr. Brudenel, went through the funeral service, 
with perfectcomposure, and propriety, notwithstand- 
ing the cannonade, and thus the last honors were 
paid one of the chiefs of the British army. 

* I am happy for the honour of my country, to add, on the au- 
thority of Gen. Winslow, who commanded the gun, which 
was fired on this occasion, that as soon as they discovered that it 
was a funeral procession, they ceased firing shot, and commenced 
firing minute guns — a high minded mark of respect, sometimes 
shown, when a distinguished enemv is buried. 1824. 

{Private communication to the author.) 

10* 



no TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

The Baroness Reidesel, who was a.jfpectator, 
speaks of the funeral service, as being " rendered 
unusually solemn and awful, from its being accom- 
panied by constant peals from the enemy's artillery," 
and adds— " many cannon balls, flew close by me, 
but I had my eyes directed to the mountain where 
my husband was standing amidst the fire of the ene- 
my, and of course, I could not think of my own 
danger.'' 

General Burgoyne's eloquent delineation of the 
same scene, although often quoted before by oth- 
ers, is too interesting to be omitted on the pres- 
ent occasion ; — " The incessant cannonade, during 
the solemnity ; the steady attitude and unaltered 
voice, with which the clergyman officiated, though 
frequently covered with dust, which the shot threw 
up on all sides of hirn ; the mute but expressive 
mixture of sensibility and indignation, upon every 
countenance ; these objects will remain, to the last 
of life, upon the mind of every man who was present. 
The growing duskiness, added to the scenery, and 
the whole marked a character of that juncture, that 
would make one of the tinest subjects for the pencil 
of a master, that the field ever exhibited. To the 
canvass and to the page of a more important histo- 
rian, gallant friend ! I consign thy memory. There 
may thy talents, thy manly virtues, their progress 
and their period, find due distinction ; and long may 
they survive ; long after the frail record of my pen 
shall be forgotten '' 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. Ill 

The place of the interment, was formerly desig- 
nated, by a little fence, surrounding the grave. I 
was here in 1797, twenty-two years ago, the grave 
was then distinctly visible, but the remains have been 
since dug up, by some English gentlemen, and car- 
ried to England.* 

The circumstances of the British were now very 
distressing, and they constantly expected a renewed 
attack from the Americans. Speaking of the death 
of General Frazer, General Burgoyne remarks : 
" The whole of the 8th of October was correspond- 
ent to this inauspicious beginning. The hours were 
measured by a succession of immediate cares, in- 
creasing doubts and melancholy objects. The ene- 
my were formed in two lines. Every part of their 
disposition, as well as the repeated attacks on lord 
Balcarras' corps, and the cannonade from the 
plain, kept the troops in momentary expectation of 
a general action. During this suspense, wounded 
officers, some upon crutches, and others even carri- 
ed upon hand barrows, by their servants, were oc- 
casionally ascending the hill, from the hospital 
tents, to take their share in the action, or follow the 
march of the army. The Generals were employed 
in exhorting the troops." 

* Such was the statement made to me by the people in the vi- 
cinity, but I have since, heard doubts expressed of the correct- 
ness of this report, by a gentleman, who has made the history of 
this campaign an object of much '.nquiry. 1824. 



112 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

That commander, who, in the commencement of 
the campaign, had uttered in his general orders, the 
memorable sentiment — " this army must not re- 
treat," was now compelled to seek his safety by 
stealing away in the night, from his victorious ene- 
my. Numerous fires were lighted — several tents 
left standing, and the retreat was ordered to be con- 
ducted with the greatest secrecy. The army com- 
menced its retrograde motion at nine o'clock on 
the night of the eighth, pursuing the r iver road, 
through the meadows. It moved all night ; but the 
succeeding day was excessively rainy, and the roads 
so bad, that they did not reach Saratoga, a distance 
of only six miles, till the evening of the ninth. The 
rains had so swelled the Fishkill, that they did not 
pass that rivulet till the morning of the tenth, when, 
finding their enemies already in possession of the 
fords of the Hudson, they took up a strong position 
which proved their final one. 

General Burgoyne left his hospital, containing 
more than t\iree hundred sick and wounded, to the 
mercy of General Gates, who in this, as in all other 
instances, exhibited towards the enemy; the greatest 
humanity and kindness. 

The house, whete Mr. W. and myself lodged, was 
the centre of this military hospital, and was occupi- 
ed by the wounded ofiicers, while the common sol- 
diers were comfortably accommodated, in the vicin- 
ity, in tents. 



4 
TOUK BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 113 

The researches and observations of the morning 
had detained us till rather a late hour, when, taking 
leave of our venerable guide,* we proceeded north- 
ward on our journey, pursuing exactly the route of 
the retreating British army. 



THE LAST ENCAMPMENT. 

Six days more of anxiety, fatigue and suffering, 
remained for the British army. They had lost part 
of their provision batteaux, when they abandon- 
ed the hospital, and the rest being exposed to im- 
minent danger, the small slock of provisions re- 
maining, was landed under a heavy fire, and hauled 
up the heights. On these heights, near to the 
meadows bordering on the river, they formed a for- 
tified camp, and strengthened it by artillery. Most 
of the artillery however, was on the plain. Gene- 
ral Gates' army soon followed that of Burgoyne, and 
stretched along south of the Fishkill, and parallel 
to it; the corps of Colonel Morgan , lay west and 
north of the British army, and General Fellows 
with three thousand men, was on the east of the Hud- 
son, ready to dispute the passage. Fort Edward was 

* I must not, however, leave him without mentioning that he 
was wounded in this campai§:n: he bared his aged breast, and 
showed me where a bullet had raked along, superficially, cutting 
the outer integuments of the thorax, and carrying with it into the 
wound, portions of his clothes. 



114 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEO. 

soon after occupied by the Americans — a fortified 
camp was formed on the high ground, between the 
Hudson and Lake George, and parties were stationed 
up and down the river; thus, the desperate resolu- 
tion which had been taken in General Burgoyne's 
camp, of abandoning their artillery and baggage, 
and (with no more provisions than they could carry 
on their backs,) forcing their way by a rapid night 
march, and in this manner gaining one of the lakes, 
was rendered abortive. 

Every part of the camp of the royal army was 
exposed, not only to cannon brlls, but to rifle shot} 
HOt a single place of safety could be found, not a cor- 
Her where a council could be held, a dinner taken in 
peace, or where the sick, and the wounded, the 
females and the children could find an asylum. — 
Even the access to the river was rendered very haz- 
ardous by the numerous rifle shot ; and the army 
was soon distressed for want of water. General 
Reidesel, and his lady and children, were often 
obliged to drink wine instead of water, and they had 
no way to procure the latter, exv-ept that a soldier's 
wife ventured to the river for them, and the Amer- 
icans, out of respect to her sex, did not fire at her. 

To protect his family from shot. General Reide- 
sel, soon after their arrival at Saratoga, directed 
them to take shelter, in a house not far off. They 
had scarcely reached it, before a terrible cannonade 



TOUP. BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 116 

was directed against that very house,* upon the mis- 
taken idea, that all the Generals were assembled in 
it. " Alas," adds the Baroness, '* it contained none 

* At the time of writing the account in the text, I was ignorant 
that this house was still in existence. It is not only standing;, but 
it 18 in perfect preservation, and was evidently, one of the best 
houses of that period, in this part of the country, 1 visited it in 
May, 1821, and with the aid of its intelligent occupant Mr. 
B , found no difficulty in understanding exactly, the inter- 
esting narrative of the Baroness Reidesel. The house stands a 
>hort distance from the road, on a gentle elevation, directly opposite 
to the mouth of the Battenkill,and one mile north of the Fishkill. 
After the circumstances of the British army became extreme, this 
house, as it was stated to mc, was at least, for a time, the head 
quarters of Gen'l. Burgoyne. I am not informed whether he still 
remained there, when the most distinguished ladies of the army, 
with their children, and some wounded officers, sought it as a re- 
fuge from our shot, which pervaded every other part of the British 
encampment. 

The circumstances related in the text, evince that it was but a 
poor refuge. The room in which the wounded man lay, whose 
remaining limb was taken oflF by a cannon ball, is in the north 
east angle of the house, and it will be evident, on casting an eye 
across the river, that the cannon which did the mischief, must have 
=tood on a small eminence, still visible on the eastern bank. The 
family were so kind as to permit me to go into the cellar, and it 
needs but a glance at the premises, to discern the exact spot, 
where the baroness Reidesel and her children, must have sought 
a shelter from the cannon balls. The place must have been in the 
north east angle of the cellar, where the protection would be most 
complete, as it was not possible that the shot should reach this 
place, although they tai^ht possibli^ have perforated the floor, and 
struck in the opposite corner. Thus it appears, that there are 
three very memorable houses remaining, viz ; this — that in which 
Frazer died, and that in the American camp in which Sir Fran- 
cis Clark expired. 

The old church, denoted in GenT. Burgoyne's plans, was still 
standing in 1821 — Several bullet holes were visible in the north 
side of it— St stood^ust south of the Fishkill. 1824. 



il6 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

but wounded and women ; we were at last obliged t© 
resort to the cellar for refuge, and in one corner of 
this, I remained the whole day, my children 
sleeping on the earth, with their heads in my lap, 
and, in the same situation, I passed a sleepless 
night. Eleven cannon balls passed through the 
house, and we could distinctly hear them roll away. 
One poor soldier who was lying on a table, for the 
purpose of having his leg amputated, was struck by 
a shot which carried away his other; his comrades 
had left him, and when we went to his assistance, 
we found him in a corner of the room, into which 
he had crept, more dead than alive, scarcely breath- 
ing. My reflections on the danger to which my 
husband was exposed, now agonized me exceeding- 
ly, and the thoughts of my children, and the ne- 
cessity of struggling for their preservation, alone 
sustained me." A horse of General Reidesel was 
in constant readiness for his lady to mount, in case 
of a sudden retreat, and three wounded English of- 
ficers, who lodged in the same house, had made her 
a solemn promise, that they would each of them, 
take one of her children upon a horse, and fly with 
them, when such a measure should become necessa- 
ry. She was in a state of wretchedness on account 
of her husband, who was in constant danger, exposed 
all day to the shot, and never entering his tent to 
sleep, but notwithstanding the great cold, lying down 
whole nights by the watch fires. " In this horrid 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 117 

situation," they remained six days, till the cessation 
of hostilities, which ended in a convention, for the 
surrender of the army ; the treaty was signed on 
the sixteenth, and the army surrendered the next 
dav.* 

On the present occasion, I did not visit the Brit- 
ish fortified camp.f When 1 was here, in 1797, 1 
examined it particularly. It was then in perfect 
preservation, (I speak of the encampment of the 
British troops, upon the hill, near the Fishkill,) the 
parapet was high, and covered with grass and 
shrubs, and the platforms of earth, to support the 
field pieces, were still in good condition. No devas- 
tation, of any consequence had been committed, ex- 
cept by the credulous, who had made numerous ex- 
cavations in the breast works, and various parts of 
the encampment, for the purpose of discovering 
the money, which the officers were supposed to 

* Baroness Reidesel's Narrative, in Wilkinson's Memoirs. 

tin May 1821,1 again visited this fortified camp, and found 
it as perfect as it was when I saw it nearly twenty three years 
before, and almost every particular stated in the text was strictly 
applicable to it. It is about a mile from the river, and was cer- 
tainly chosen with great good judgment, and had the American 
army attempted to take it by storm , it would evidently have cost 
them very dear. While at Ballston Springs during the late 
summer, some gentlemen of our party made an excursion 
to this place, and T learned from them with extreme regret, 
that the plough was passing over the fortified camp of General 
Burgoyne, and that its fine parapet would soon be levelled, so that 
scarcely a trace of it would remain. 

11 



118 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

have buried, and abandoned. It is scarcely neces- 
sary to add, that they never found any money, for 
private property was made sacred by the conven- 
tion, and even the pubhc mihtary chest was not 
disturbed : the British retained every shilHng that it 
contained. Under such circumstances, to have bu- 
ried their money, would have been almost as great 
a folly, as the subsequent search for it. This infat- 
uation, has not however gone by, even to this hour, 
and still, every year, new pits are excavated by the 
insatiable money diggers.* 



THE FIELD OF SURRENDER. 

We arrived at this interesting spot, in a very fine 
morning; the sun shone with great splendor, upon 
the flowing Hudson, and upon the beautiful heights, 
and the luxuriant meadows, now smiling in rich ver- 
dure, and exhibiting images of tranquillity and love- 
liness, very opposite to the horrors of war, which 
were once witnessed here. ■ 

The Fishkill, swollen by abundant rains, (as it 
was on the morning of October 10th, 1777, when 
General Burgoyne passed it with his artillery,) now 

* This appears to be a very common popular delusion ; in many 
places on the Hudson, and about the lakes, where armies had 
lain, or moved, we found money-pits dua; ; and in one place, 
they told us, that a man bought of a poor widow, the right of dig- 
ging in her ground for the hidden treasure. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 119 

poured a turbid torrent along its narrow channel, 
and roaring down the declivity of the hills, hasten- 
ed to mingle its waters with those of the Hudson. 
It was upon the banks of the Fishkill, that the 
British army surrendered. We passed the ground, 
where stood the tent of General Gates, and where 
he received General Burgoyne, and the principal 
officers of his army. General Wilkinson's account 
of this interview is interesting : " Early in the morn- 
ing of the 17th, I visited General Burgoyne in his 
camp, and accompanied him to the ground, where 
his army was to lay down their arms, from whence 
we rode to the Bank of the Hudson river, which 
he surveyed with attention, and asked me whether 
it was not fordable. ' Certainly, Sir ; but do you 
observe the people on the opposite shore?' 'Yes, 
(replied he,) I have seen them too long.' He then 
proposed to be introduced to General Gates, and 
we crossed the Fishkill, and proceeded to head 
quarters, General Burgoyne in front, with his adju- 
tant General Kingston, and his aids de camp Cap- 
tain lord Petersham, and Lieutenant Wilford behind 
him ; then followed Major General Pliillips, the 
Baron Reidesel, and the other General officers, and 
their suites, according to rank. General Gates, ad- 
vised of Burgoyne's approach, met him at the head 
of his camp, Burgoyne in a rich royal uniform, and 
Gates in a plain blue frock ; when they had ap- 
proached nearly within swords' length, they reined 
up, and hahed, I then named the gentlemen, and 



120 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qUEBKC. 

General Burgoyne, raising his hat most gracefully, 
said ' The fortune of war, General Gates, has made 
me your prisoner ;' to which the conqueror, return- 
ing a courtly salute, promptly replied, ' I shall al- 
ways be ready to bear testimony, that it has not 
been through any fault of your excellency.' Major 
General Phillips then advanced, and he, and Gene- 
ral Gates saluted, and shook hands with the famili- 
arity of old acquaintances. The Baron Reide- 
sel, and the other officers, were introduced in their 
turn." 

We passed the ruins of General Schuyler's house, 
which are still conspicuous, and hastened to the field 
where the British troops grounded their arms. Al- 
though, in 1797, I paced it over with juvenile en- 
thusiasm,* 1 felt scarcely less interested on the 
present occasion, and again walked over the whole 
tract. It is a beautiful meadow, situated at the in- 
tersection of the Fishkill, with the Hudson, and north 
of the former. There is nothing now to distinguish 
the spot, except the ruins of old Fort Hardy, built 
during the French wars, and the deeply interesting 
historical associations which will cause this place to 
be memorable to the latest generation. Thousands 
and thousands yet unborn, will visit Saratoga, with 
feelings of the deepest interest, and it will not be 
forgotten till Thermopylae, and Marathon, and Ban- 
nockburn and Waterloo, shall cease to be remem- 

* In company with the Hon. John Elliott, now a Senator from 
Georgia, aud John Wynn, Esq. from the i^ame state. 



TOUE BKTVVEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 121 

jered. There it will be said, were the last en- 
renchments of a proud invading army ; on that spot 
itood their formidable park of artillery — and here, 
Dn this now peaceful meadow, they piled their arms! 
;heir arms no longer terrible, but now converted 
nto a glorious trophy of victory ! 



REFLECTIONS AND REMARKS. 

I have adverted but little to the sufferings of the 
American army, because but little, comparatively, is 
jnown of what they individually endured. Except- 
ng the inevitable casualties of battle, they must have 
suffered much less than their enemies; for they soon 
ceased to be the flying, and became the attacking 
md triumphant party. Colonels Colburn, Adams, 
Prancis and many other brave officers and men, 
rave up their lives, as the price of their country's 
iberty, and very many carried away with them the 
jcars produced by honourable wounds. The brave- 
•y of the American army was fully acknowledged by 
:heir adversaries, 

"At all times," said Lord Balcarras, "when I 

ivas opposed to the rebels, they fought with great 

courage and obstinacy." " We were taught by ex- 

aerience, that neither their attacks oor resistance 

ivas to be despised." Speaking of the retreat of the 

A.mericans, from Ticonderoga, and of their behav- 

our at the battle of Hubberton,Lord Balcarras adds : 

11* 



122 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

" Circumstanced as the enemy were, as an army 
very hard pressed, in their retreat, they certainly be- 
haved with great gallantry ;" of the attack on the 
lines, on the evening of the 7th of October, he says : 
"The lines were attacked, and with as much fury as 
the fire of small arms can admit.'' 

Lord Balcarras had said, that he never knew the 
Americans to defend their entrenchments, but ad- 
ded : " The reason why they did not defend their en- 
trenchments was, that they always marched out of 
them and attacked us." Captain Money, in an- 
swer to the question, whether on the 19th of Sep- 
tember, the Americans disputed the field with ob- 
stinacy, answered, "they did, and the fire was 
much hotter than I ever knew it any where, except 
at the affair of Fort Anne," and speaking of the bct- 
tle of October 7th, and of the moment when the 
Americans, with nothing but small arms, were 
marching up to the British artillery, he adds : " I 
was very much astonished, to hear the shot from 
the enemy, fly so thick, after our cannonade had 
lasted a quarter of an hour." General Burgoyne 
gives it as his opinion, that as rangers, " perhaps 
there are few better in the world, than the corps of 
Virginia riflemen which acted under Colonel Mor- 
gan.'' He says, speaking of the battle of September 
19th, that, "few actions have been characterised by 
more obstinacy, in attack or defence. The British 
bayonet was repeatedly tried ineffectually." 



TOOK BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 123 

Remarking upon the battle of the 7th of October, 
le observes : "If there be any persons who con- , 
inue to doubt that the Americans possess the qual' 
ty and faculty of fighting, call it by whatever term 
;hey please, they are of a prejudice, that it would 
be very absurd longer to contend with ;" he says, 
:hat in this action the British troops "retreated hard 
pressed, but in good order,'' and that "the troops 
dad scarcely entered the camp, when it was storm- 
ed with great fury, the enemy rushing to the 
lines, under a severe fire of grape shot and small 
arms." 

In a private letter, addressed to Lord George 
Germain, after the surrender, he says, " I should 
now hold myself unjustifiable, if I did not confide 
to your Lordship, my opinion, upon a near inspec- 
tion of the rebel troops. The standing corps that 
I have seen, are disciplined. I do not hazard the 
term, but apply it to the great fundamental points 
of military institution, sobriety, subordination, regu- 
larity and courage.'' 

It is very gratifying to every real American to 
find, that for so great a prize, his countrymen, (their 
enemies themselves being judges,) contended so 
nobly, and that their conduct for bravery, skill and 
humanity, will stand the scrutiny of all future ages. 
From the enemy it becomes us not to withhold 
the commendation that is justly due ; all that skill 
and valour could effect, they accomplished, and 
they were overwhelmed at last by complicated dis- 



124 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

tresses, and by very superior numbers, amounting 
at the time of the surrender, probably, to three for 
one, ahhough the disparity was much less, in the 
two great battles. 

The vaunting proclamation of General Burgoyne, 
at the commencement of the campaign ; some of 
his boasting letters, written during the progress of 
it, and his devastation of private property reflect no 
honour on his memory. But, in general, he ap- 
pears to have been a humane and honourable man, 
a scholar and a gentleman, a brave soldier and an 
able commander. Some of his sentiments have a 
higher moral tone than is common with men of his 
profession, and have probably procured for him 
more respect, than all his battles. Speaking of the 
battle of the 7th, he says, "In the course of the ac- 
tion, a shot had passed through my hat, and anoth- 
er had torn my waistcoat. I should be sorry to be 
thought, at any time, insensible to the protecting 
hand of Providence ; but 1 ever, more particularly 
considered (and I hope not supersiitiously) a sol- 
dier's hair breadth escapes as incentives to duty, a 
marked renewal of the trust of being, for the pur- 
poses of a public station : and under that reflection, 
to lose our fortitude, by giving way to our affec- 
tions ; to be divested by any possible self-emotion 
from meeting a present exigency, with our best fac- 
ulties, were at once dishonour and impiety.'' 

Thus have I adverted, I hope not with too 
much particularity, to some of the leading cir- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 125 

iumstances of the greatest military event which has 
;ver occurred in America ; but compared with the 
vhole extent and diversity of that campaign, the 
ibove notices, however extended, are few and brief, 
confess, I have reviewed them with a very deep 
nterest, and have been wilHng to hear some of the 
listinguished actors speak in their own language. — 
should the notice of these great events tend, in any 
nstance, to quench the odious fires of party, and to 
ekindle those of genuine patriotism — should it re- 
'ive in any one, a veneration for the virtues of 
hose men who faced death, in every form, regard- 
ess of their own lives, and bent only on securing to 
)Osterity, the precious blessings, which we now en- 
oy ; and above all, should we thus be led to cher- 
sh a higher sense of gratitude to heaven, for our un- 
ixampled privileges, and to use them more temper- 
itely and wisely, the time occupied in this sketch, 
vili not have been spent in vain. History pre- 
ents no struggle for liberty which has in it more 
if the moral sublime than that of the American re- 
olution. It has been, of late years, too much 
orgotten, in the sharp contention^ of party, and 
le who endeavours to withdraw the public mind 
rom those debasing conflicts, and to fix it on the 
;randeur of that great epoch — which, magnificent 
n itself, begins now, to wear the solemn livery of an-' 
iqnity^ as it is viewed through the deepening twilight 
f half a century^ certainly performs a meritori- 
ous service, and can scarcely need a justification. 



126 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOKD AND QUEIiEC. 

The generation that sustained the conflict, is now al- 
most passed away ; a few hoary heads remain, 
seamed with honourable scars — a few experienced 
guides can still attend us to the fields of carnage, and 
point out the places where they and their compan- 
ions fought and bled, and where sleep the bones of 
the slain. But these men will soon be gone ; tradi- 
tion and history, will, however, continue to recite 
their deeds, and the latest generations will be taught 
to venerate the defenders of our liberties — to visit 
the battle-grounds, which were moistened with their 
blood, and to thank the mighty God of battles, that 
the arduous conflict, terminated in the entire estab- 
lishment of the liberties of this country. 



STILLWATER TO SANDY HILL. 

This ride of twenty-two miles we took before din- 
ner. After viewing the field of surrender, which is 
seven miles above Stillwater, and thirty-two above 
Albany,we passed on two miles farther, to the bridge, 
at Fort Miller, where we crossed to the eastern side 
of the Hudson. 

On coming near the head waters of this river, we 
begin to tread on ground famous, not only in the 
war of the revolution, but, in those numerous and 
bloody campaigns, of a still earlier date, in which 
the French and the savages carried fire and slaugh- 
ter, into the vast frontier of the northern English 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 127 

Colonies; The contests then sustained, were dis- 
tinguished by immense sacrifices, efforts and suffer- 
ings on the part of the Engh'sh Colonies ; sacrifices, 
efforts and sufferings, which, notwithstanding the 
great aids, occasionally received from the mother 
country, scarcely admitted, for a long course of 
years, of any serious and permanent intermission. 
Fort Miller was one of the posts established in those 
wars, and formed a link in the chain, which con- 
nected the upper waters of the Hudson with those 
of the lakes George and Champlain, and of course, 
with Canada. Fort Miller, is completely levelled, 
and I know not of any particular event, of signal 
importance, connected with its history, except that 
here, or a little way below, General Burgoyne, 
when proceeding to Stillwater, on the 13th and 14th 
of September, 1777, passed most of his army over 
the Hudson. 

From this place W€ pursued our journey, along 
the left bank of the river, to Fort Edward, and San- 
dy Hill. 

In the whole distance, from Albany to the latter 
place, (nearly fifty miles,) there is, on the imme- 
diate border of the river, scarcely a hill, even of 
moderate elevation, and the scenery is extremely 
similar to that which I have already described. 

The river, sprinkled with islands, flows through 
beautiful meadows, and appears, in many places, 
smooth and glassy as a mirror, and its motion is 
scarcely perceptible, either to sight or hearing ; 



128 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

again, it is agitated, and with ripples and waves, is 
urged over a shallow and rocky bottom, or, dashes 
rapidly, down a more sudden and more rocky de- 
clivity ; but, in every variety of surface, it forms al- 
ways, a pleasing and interesting object. 



GEOLOGY. 

It was not in my power, to make many very pre- 
cise observations on the nature of the hills, by which 
the meadows are bounded. On Bemus' heights, 
the soil and forest hid almost every rock from 
view ; the solitary projections were, however, gen- 
erally slaty, like the rocks along the river, which, 
with very few exceptions, were slate — of the trans- 
ition class, (as I suppose ;) the direction of the stra- 
ta was, more generally, like that of the other great 
rock formations of the north : that is, somewhat to 
the east of north, and to the west of south ; their dip 
appeared extremely variable, but T believe they 
were never flat, nor vertical, and the structure of the 
strata was often, extremely confused and tortuous.* 

* The observations of Prof. Amos Eaton, (Index to the Geology 
of the Northern States, second edition,) of Dr. William Meade, 
(Experimental Enquiry, &c.) and of Dr. John H. Steel, (Analysis 
of the Mineral waters of Saratoga, &c.) may be advantagreously 
consulted as to the geology of the regions bordering on the upper 
waters of the Hudson. 



/ 



TOUR BETWEEN IIAHTFOHD AND (iUEBEC. 129 

FORT EDWARD. 

At this Fort, we first observed the canal, which 
is destined to connect the head waters of Lake 
Champlain with those of the Hudson. It is now on 
the point of being united with this river, and they 
are constructing the walls of the Canal of a very 
handsome hewn stone : it is obtained, as I am in- 
formed, near Fort Anne, and presents to the eye, 
aided by a magnifier, very minute plates and veins, 
which feebly eiFervesce with acids, and appear to 
enclose an extremely fine, black mineral, resem- 
bling hornblende ; the stone is impressed by steel, 
and feebly fires with it ; is it a peculiar kind of cal- 
careous sand stone? It is of a dark hue, and is 
shaped into handsome blocks, by the tools of the 
workmen. I was gratified to see such firm and 
massy walls constructed of this stone ; indeed, in 
point of solidity and beauty, they would do honour 
to the modern wet docks of Great Britain. 

It is intended to have a lock at this place, where 
there is a considerable descent into the Hudson. 

There is a village at Fort Edward, bearing the 
same name, and I ought to have remarked that there 
are villages, at Stillwater, Saratoga and Fort Mil- 
ler ; but there is nothing particularly interesting in 
any of them. Fort Edward, however, is memora- 
ble, on account of its former importance ; It is situa 
ted near the great bend of the Hudson, and form- 
ed the immediate connexion with Lake George, 

12 



130 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qUEBEC. 

which is sixteen miles, and with Lake Champlainj 
which is twenty-two miles distant. It was origin- 
ally only an entrenched camp, and was constructed 
by General Lyman ; but as its situation was im- 
portant, it was soon converted into a regular Fort. 
Its walls, built of earth, were raised thirty feet high, 
with ditches corresponding in depth and width, and 
it was defended by cannon. It stands on the brink 
of the Hudson, and the embankment was continued 
along the river. 

The walls appear to be, in some places, still 
twenty feet high, notwithstanding what time and 
the plough have done to reduce them ; for the in- 
terior of the Fort, and the parapet are now in some 
places, planted with potatoes. 

I know not that this Fort was ever beseiged or 
stormed, although it was often threatened. In the 
last French war, it was an important station, and in 
General Burgoyne's campaign, it formed the medi- 
um of communication with Lake George, whence 
the provisions were brought forward for the use of 
the British army, which was detained on this ac- 
count, at and near Fort Edward, for six weeks, by 
which means, they lost the best part of the season 
for military operations — as they moved down the 
river, they relinquished the connexion with Fort 
Edward and Lake George, and were never able to 
recover it. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 131 

MURDER OF MISS McCREA. 

The Story of this unfortunate young lady is weli 
known, nor should I mention it now, but for the fact, 
that the place of her murder was pointed out to us, 
near Fort Edward. 

We saw, and conversed with a person, who was 
acquainted with her, and with her family ; they re- 
sided in the village of Fort Edward. 

It seems she was betrothed to a Mr. Jones, an 
American refugee, who was with Burgoyne's army, 
and being anxious to obtain possession of his expect- 
ed bride, he dispatched a party of Indians to escort 
her to the British army. Where were his affection 
and his gallantry, that he did not go himself, or at 
least that he did not accompany his savage emissa- 
ries ! 

Sorely against the wishes and remonstrances of 
her friends, she committed herself to the care of 
these fiends ; — strange infatuation in her lover, to 
solicit such a confidence — stranger presumption ii 
her, to yield to his wishes ; what treatment had she 
not a right to expect from such guardians ! 

The party set forward, and she on horseback; 
they had proceeded, not more than half a mile from 
Fort Edward, when they arrived at a spring, and 
halted to drink. The impatient lover had, in the 
mean time, dispatched a second party of Indians, 
on the same errand ; they came, at the unfortunate 



132 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

moment, to the same spring, and a collision imme- 
diately ensued, as to the promised reward.* 

Both parties were now attacked, by the whites, 
and at the end of the conflict, the unhappy young 
woman was found tomahawked, scalped and (as is 
said) tied fast to a pine tree just by the spring. 
Tradition reports, that the Indians divided the scalp, 
and that each party carried half of it to the agonized 
lover. 

This beautiful spring, which still flows limpid 
and cool, from a bank near the road side, and this 
fatal tree we saw. The tree, which is a large and 
ancient pine, "fit for the mast of some tall ammiraP' 
is wounded, in many places, by the balls of the 
whites, fired at the Indians ; they have been dug out 
as far as they could be reached, but others still re- 
main in this ancient tree, which seems a striking em- 
blem, of wounded innocence, and the trunk, twist- 
ed off at a considerable elevation, by some violent 
wind, that has left only a few mutilated branches, is 
a happy, although painful memorial of the fate of 
Jane McCrea.f 

Her name is inscribed on the tree, with the date 
1777, and no traveller passes this spot, without spend- 

* Which is said to have been a barrel of rum. 

+ General Hoyt of DeerfielJ, informs me, that the received ac- 
counts of the circumstances attending the murder of Miss McCrea 
are in some particulars incorrect ; he states, that he has ascer- 
tained that she was not murdered at this spring, "but in the road, 
at a little distance from it, and that she was on foot. 



rOUU BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QITEIIEC. 133 

jng a plaintive moment in contemplating the untime- 
ly fate of youth and loveliness. 

The murder of Miss McCrea, (a deed of such 
atrocity and cruelty as scarcely to admit of aggrava- 
tion,) occurring as it did, at the moment when Gen- 
eral Burgoyne, whose army was then at Fort 
Anne, was bringing with him to the invasion of the 
American States, hordes of savages, " those hell- 
hounds of war,"* whose known and established 
mode of warfare, were those of promiscuous massa- 
cre,! electrified the whole continent, and indeed, 
the civilized world, producing an universal burst of 
horror and indignation. General Gates did not fail 
to profit by the circumstance, and in a severe, but 
too personal remonstrance, which he addressed to 

* Lord Chatham. 

t It is true that General Burgoyne, in his celebrated speech to 
the Indians, at the river Boquet, at the opening of the campaign, 
(June 24, 1777,) reprobated such proceedings, and bound the say- 
ages, (whom however he called "brothers" and "friends,") down 
to European rules of warfare ; but, who would expect, that a fine 
speech and a few rhetorical flourishes, even if sanctioned by re- 
wards and punishments in prospect, would restrain the habitual, I 
had almost said, the innate ferocity of an American barbarian. All 
that happened, might therefore have been anticipated, and had 
General Burgoyne's army continued to be successful, the savages, 
instead of deserting him, as they did, in the hour " of his utmost 
need," would have spread murder and desolation every where, 
in spite of speeches, rules or remonstrances. 

The French, the English and the Americans, are however, all 
chargeable with a common guilt, differing only in degree, in em- 
ploying the savages, in the various wars on this continent. 

12* 



134 TOUR BET\VEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

General Burgoyne, charged him with the guilt of 
the murder, and with that of many other similar 
atrocities. His real guilty or that of his government, 
was, in employing the savages at all in the war; in 
other respects he appears to have had no concern 
with the transaction ; in his reply to General Gates, 
he thus vindicates himself: " In regard to Miss 
McCrea, her fall wanted not the tragic display you 
have labored to give it, to make it as sincerely la- 
mented and abhorred by me, as it can be by the 
tenderest of her friends. The fact was no premedi- 
tated barbarity. On the contrary, two chiefs, who 
had brought her off, for the purpose of security, 
not of violence to her person, disputed which 
should be her guard, and in a fit of savage passion, 
in one from whose hand.* she was snatched, the un- 
happy woman became the victim. Upon the first 
intelligence of this event, I obliged the Indians to 
deliver the murderer into my hands, and though, 
to have punished him by our laws, or principles of. 
justice, would have been perhaps unprecedented, 
he certainly should have suffered an ignominious 
death, had I not been convinced by my circumstan- 
ces and observation, beyond the possibility of a 
doubt, that a pardon under the terms which I pre- 
sented, and they accepted, would be more effica- 
cious than an execution, to prevent similar mis- 
chiefs."* 

*Feb. 7, 1824. — The following letters, which have recently- 
appeared in the public printsi are worthy of being preserved in 
this place : — 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 135 
SANDY HILL, AND THE MASSACRE THERE. 

Sandy Hill* "is delightfully situated just above 
Baker's Falls — it contains a woollen manufactory, 

From the Mohawk (JV. F.) Herald. 

MURDER OF MISS McCREA. 

Florida, Dec. 27, 1823. 

Dear Sir — There was no event during our revolutionary struggle 
writh Great Britain, that excited more sympathy than the tragical 
fate of Jane McCrea. The time, and every circumstance attending 
that transaction,was peculiarly fitted to harrow up the minds of men 
to resistance and revenge. Wherever the story was told, (and it 
was told throughout the continent with the rapidity of lightning,) 
every bosom was thrilled as by an electric shock, and beat in unison. 
Young as I then was, the horrors of the scene impressed my mind so 
deeply, that forty-six years have in no part effaced it. But the 
subsequent writers of that period of our history have related the 
story very differently, and some have spelled her name errone- 
ously. 

In order to correct in season every mistake, I lately requested 
Colonel McCrea, of Saratoga, to state all the facts, as they were 
known and believed in the family. This gentleman was nephew 
to Jane McCrea, and is distinguished for candor and probity ; and 
is perhaps better able to tell the story than any other living wit- 
ness. The following is an extract from his letter. I hope you 
will think with me that it ought to be preserved, and give it a 
place in the Herald. I am, &c. 

S. Reynolds. 

Ballston, Jply 1st, 1822. 
Sir — It is with no small degree of diffidence I undertake to 
commit to paper that which is known in our family concerning 
the late Jane McCrea ; and in yielding to this, I do it solely with 
a view of complying with yeur request of transmitting to poster- 
ity something more of her history than is at present extant, 

* Worcester's Gazetteer. 



13G TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

a court house, a bank, an academy for young ladies, 
and about eighty houses." This pretty and flour- 
Miss Jane McCrea, who was killed by the Indians at Fort Ed- 
ward, in July, 1777, was the second daughter of the Rev. James 
McCrea, formerly pastor of a congregation in Lamington, New- 
Jersey, but died previous (.0 the revolution. His eldest son, Col, 
John McCrea, had become a resident of Albany before his father's 
death, and his sister Jane directly afterwards repaired to his 
house, and resided with him. In the year^ seventy-three, they 
removed to that part of this county now known by the name of 
Northumberland, on the west side of the Hudson river, about 
three miles north of Fort Miller Falls, and he was here when his 
iister was killed. This was on Suaday morning, and it was eve- 
ning before he received the fatal news. Early the next day, he 
sent his family to Albany, and repaired himself to the American 
camp, where he found his sister's corpse, shockingly mangled. — 
Two of the neighboring women, whom he had brought with him, 
washed and dressad her remains, and he had her interred with 
one Lieutenant Van Veehten, three miles south of Fort Edward. 
She was twenty-three years of age, of an amiable and virtuous 
character, and highly esteemed by all her acquaintance. She 
was at this time on a visit to a family in (he neighborhood of 
Fort Edward. A Mrs. McNeil had persuaded her to remain till 
the Monday following. Here she was concealed in the cellar, 
when the Indians arrived, who, after ransacking the house, dis- 
covered her retreat, and drew her out by the hair, and placing 
her on a horse, proceeded on the road towards Sandy Hill. They 
had gone but a short distance, when they met another party of 
Indians, returning from Argyle, where they had killed the family 
of Mr. Bains. This party disapproved of taking Miss McCrea to 
the British camp, and one of them struck her with a tomahawk, 
and tore offher scalp. 

It was said, and generally believed, that she was engaged in 
marriage to Captain David Jones, of the British army. Captain 
Jones survived her only a few years, and died, as was thought, 
with grief. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, &c. 

James McCrea. 
Dr. S. Reynolds. 



TOUR BET\\*EEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 137 

ishing village is regularly laid out, and composed of 
neat and handsome houses, many of which surround 
a beautiful central green. Its population is from 
tive hundred to six hundred. The village of Sandy 
Hill is of recent origin, and the site on which it 
stands was formerly the scene of Indian barbari- 
ties. 

From Mr. H. a very respectable inhabitant, I 
learned the following singular piece of history. 

Old Mr. Schoonhoven, recently living in this 
vicinity, and probably still surviving, although at 
the great age of more than four score, informed 
Mr. H. that during the last French war, he, and 
six or seven other Americans coming through the 
wilderness, from Fort William Henry, at the head 
of Lake George, to Sandy Hill, had the misfortune 
to be taken prisoners by a party of the savages. 
They were conducted to the spot which is now the 
central green of Sandy Hill, and ordered to sit 
down in a row, upon a log. Mr. Schoonhoven 
pointed out to Mr. H. the exact place where the 
log lay ; it was nearly in front of the house where 
we dined. The Indians then began, very deliber- 
ately, to tomahawk their victims, commencing at 
one end of the log, and splitting the skulls of their 
prisoners, in regular succession ; while the survi- 
vors, compelled to sit still, and to witness the awful 
fate of their companions, awaited their own, in un- 
utterable horror. Mr. Schoonhoven was the last 
but one, upon the end of the log opposite to where 



138 TOUR BETWEEiST HARTPORD AND QUEBEC, 

the massacre commenced; the work of death had 
already proceeded to him, and the lifted tomahawk 
was ready to descend, when a chief gave a signal to 
atop the butchery. Then approaching Mr. Schoon- 
hoven, he mildly said, " do you not remember that 
(at such a time) when your young men were danc- 
ing, poor Indians came, and wanted to dance too ; 
your young men said " no! — 'Indians shall not dance 
with us;" but you (for it seems, this chief had re- 
cognized his features only in the critical moment,) 
you said, Indians shall dance — now I will show you 
that Indians can remember kindness." This chance 
recollection {providential, we had better call it,) 
saved the life of Mr. Schoonhoven, and of the 
other survivor. 

Strange mixture of generosity and cruelty ! For 
a trifling affront, they cherished and glutted ven- 
geance, fell as that of infernals, without measure of 
retribution, or discrimination of objects ; for a favor 
equally trifling, they manifested magnanimity, ex- 
ceeding all correspondence to the benefit, and ca- 
pable of arresting the stroke of death, even when 
falling with the rapidity of lightning !* 

* Considering the moral and intellectual light of the American 
savages, we may, however, well ask whether this act, atrociou3 
as it is, manifests more that is abhorrent to every humane — every 
just — every moral — every christian, nay, to every truly honorable 
feeling, than the lamentable practice of duelling, that dreadful na- 
tional sin of this country; that foul stain on our character as a 
moral and religious people; that sin which ascertains no man's 
courage, but demonstrably proves that man's cowardice, who dares 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTPORD AND Q,UEBEC. 13^ 
ADDITIONAL REMARKS ON SANDY HILL. 

Mr. H , one of the earliest inhabitants 

of Sandy Hill, came to this place at the close 
of the war of the Revolution, and erected the 
first framed building. At that time, the ground? 
now occupied ae a public green, was cover- 
ed by a grove of shrub oaks. Sandy Hill is in the 
town of Queensbury — but is an incorporated village, 
exhibiting a great appearance of neatness and com- 
fort. It is said to be very healthy. I observed the 
citizens busied in sweeping their public green with 
brooms, and in cleaning their streets — a commend- 
able example for other villages; it is done here by a 
kind of common law. 

The houses are situated principally on the main 
street, but there are some scattered buildings. 

There was no house for public worship when I 
was there las<, (in May 1821 ;) the school-house 
was used for this purpose. The view from this 
building is said to be very fine. 

The village affords good accommodations for trav- 
ellers. Beard's house is remarkable for neatness, 
order, good fare, and the most obliging manners. 

not encounter the opinions of fighting men, but prefers the viola- 
tion of the most sacred laws both of God and man ; thai sin 
which sends to a premature grave those who have defended the 
nation by their valor, and honored it by their councils and their 
wisdom ; that sin, for whose victims thousands of American hearts 
are now bleeding, and for which all good men mourn, and angels 
weep ! ! 



/ 



140 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Baker's Falls, contiguous to this village, will 
well repay the traveller for a short walk. He will 
see them to the best advantage by crossing the 
bridge, and descending in the direction of the 
stream, till he is one hundred or one hundred and 
fifty yards below the falls ; the best station is near 
the crystallizinghouse of a gunpowder manufactory, 
which is established here, on the high bank of the 
river; there are various good points of view for a 
quarter of a mile below. The entire fall is seventy- 
eight feet ; but it takes place at several leaps, and 
forms a succession of violent, tumultuous rapids, 
not inferior in grandeur to Glen's Falls, and supe- * 
rior to them in picturesque effect ; these falls are 
really quite as well worth visiting as the more cele- 
brated cataract a few miles above. 

From the place where Baker's Falls are seen to 
the best advantage, the village of Sandy Hill forms 
a fine part of the background, being seen at the dis- 
tance of half a mile, on the high opposite bank. 

There is a fine rapid above the falls, and below 
the bridge. The water of the river is turned to 
good account by a mill-dam, which diverts a portion 
of the flood into artificial channels ; thus creating a 
great water power for the working of mills on both 
sides of the river. 

The transition and secondary formations are said 
to forma junction at this place. Slaty rocks com- 
pose the banks of the river, and are seen lying be- 
neath the water ; and where the latter is tranquil, a 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 141 

handsome picture is presented by the veins of white 
calcareous spar, which in great numbers, intersect 
the black slate rocks, and give them a tesselated 
appearance, rendered more brilliant by the refrac- 
tive effect of the water, through which they are 
seen. The rocks on the shores above the bridge, 
where they are not covered by water, present a sim- 
ilar appearance. The frowning precipices which 
form the banks of the river — the mill-dams — the 
bridge, and the steep road, by which it is approach- 
ed from the village — readily suggest to an observer, 
the possibility of fatal accidents. It seems they 
have been of too frequent occurrence. Several 
persons have been precipitated over the falls, en- 
countering instant death. Two men were in a boat 
above the mill-dam, and venturing a little too far, 
were drawn irretrievably into the rapid waters; as 
the boat passed over the mill-dam, one of the men 
caught upon it, and stood braced, till a plank, secu- 
red by a rope, was floated down to him, and he was 
thus extricated from his danger — -but his companion 
went over the dam, and was lost. Another man in 
aboat was impelled mto tlie current, and finding his 
case hopeless, calmly shipped his oars, and submit- 
ted to his fate; a man at the bridge, about three years 
ago, was standing upon a floating timber, and in the 
act of cutting it, when it suddenly parted and let him 
into the water, which soon hurried him to his death ; 
the dead bodies were found down at Fort Edward, 
a few nnles below. A man in a dark night walked 



142 TOUB BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

off the high bank at the bridge, on the eastern side, 
and fell seventy-five feet ; and a Frenchman, about 
the same time, drove a waggon and horses over 
this precipice ; it is scarcely necessary to say that 
they all perished. 



EXCURSION TO LAKE GEORGE. 

This interesting region lay to the left of our pro- 
posed route to Lake Champlain; to visit it would 
demand nearly twenty miles of additional travelling, 
through very bad roads; Mr. W. was already famil- 
iar with the scene; I therefore took an extra con- 
veyance, with which I was furnished at Sandy Hill, 
by the civility of Mr. H. who did me the favor to 
accompany me on the excursion, (for there was no 
public vehicle,) and leaving Mr. W. to pursue his 
journey to Fort Anne, where I agreed to meet him, 
I parted with him four miles above Sandy Hill, at 
Glenn's Falls. 



GLENN'S FALLS. 



We stopped for a few moments at this celebrated 
place. It is not possible that so large a river as the 
Hudson is, even here, at more than two hundred 
miles from its mouth, should be precipitated over 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 143 

any declivity, however moderate, without a degree 
of grandeur. Even the various rapids which we 
had passed above Albany, and still more, the falls 
at Fort Miller Bridge, and Baker's Falls, at Sandy 
Hill, had powerfully arrested our attention, and 
prepared us for the magnificent spectacle now be- 
fore us. I regretted that I could not, more at leisure, 
investigate the geology of this pass, both for its own 
sake, and for its connexion with this fine piece of 
scenery. 

The basis of the country here is a black lime- 
stone,* compact, but presenting spots that are crys- 
tallized, and interspersed, here and there, with the 
organized remains of animals, entombed, in ages 
past, in this mausoleum. The strata are perfectly 
flat, and are piled upon one another, with the utmost 
regularity, so that a section, perpendicular to the 
strata, presents almost the exact arrangement of 
hewn stones in a building. Such a section has been 
made by the Hudson, through these calcareous 
strata; not however all at once ; a number of lay- 
ers are removed, either through a part of the width 
of the river, or through the whole of it ; and, a few 
feet further down the stream, the layers, next 
below are removed; and thus, by stairs, or rather 

* Satin spar is found in thin, delicate, but extensive veins, 
principally in the fallen rocks below the bridge ; generally it is 
of a brilliant white, but sometimes it is black, although still re- 
taiuias; its fibrous structure. Crystals of Bitterspath, well defi- 
ned, nnd glistening in black limestone, occur at the same place. — ■ 
The satin spar was first observed by Mr. S. F. B. Morse. 



144 TOUR BKTWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

by broad platforms, not however without frequent 
irregularities, and deep channels cut by the water 
in the direction of the river, the way is prepared 
for this fine cataract. 

Down these platforms, and through these chan- 
nels, the Hudson, when the river is full, indignantly 
rushes, in one broad expanse ; now, in several sub- 
ordinate rivers, thundering and foaming among the 
black rocks, and at last dashing their conflicting 
waters into one tumultuous raging torrent, white 
as the ridge of the tempest wave, shrouded with 
spray, and adorned with the hues of the rainbow. 
Such is the view from the bridge immediately at the 
foot of the falls, and it is finely contrasted with the 
solemn grandeur of the sable ledges below, which 
tower to a great height above the stream. 

I do not know the entire fall of the river here» 
but should think, judging from the eye, that it could 
not be less than fifty feet,* including all its leaps, 
down the different platforms of rock. 

Through an uninteresting country, partly of pine 
barren, and partly of stony hills, I arrived at night- 
fall, at the head of Lake George, and found a com- 
fortable inn, in the village of Caldwell, on the west- 
ern shore. 

* This estimate being made without measurement, and as I 
have not at hand, any auihorily on the subject of the heieht of 
these falls, I wish the conjecture \n the text to be regtirJed as such 
merely. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 145 

As we approached Lake George, fragments of 
primitive rocks began to appear, and I observed 
numerous loose masses of granite, on the steep stony 
hills, near the lake. I was much struck with the 
formidable difficulties which General Burgoyne had 
to encounter in transporting his stores, and his boats, 
and part of his artillery, over this rugged country : 
at that time, without doubt, vastly more impractica- 
ble than at present. 



PROSPECT FROM THE HEAD OF LAKE GEORGE. 

Sept. 28. — In the first gray of the morning, I was 
in the balcony of the Inn, admiring the fine outline 
of the mountains by which Lake George is envi- 
roned, and the masses of pure snowy vapour, which, 
unruffled by the slightest breeze, slumbered on its 
crystal bosom. During all the preceding days of 
the tour, there had not been a clear morning, but 
now, not a cloud spotted the expanse of the hea- 
vens, and the sky and the lake conspired to exalt 
every feature of this unrivalled landscape. 

The morning came on with rapid progress'; but 
the woody sides of the high mountains, that form 
the eastern barrier, were still obscured, by the lin- 
gering shadows of night, although, on their tops, the 
dawn was now fully disclosed, and their outline, by 
contrast with their dark sides, was rendered beau- 
tifully distinct ; while, their reversed image?, per- 

13* 



146 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND q,TJEBEC. 

fectly reflected from the most exquisite of all mir- 
rors, presented mountains pendent iii the deep, and 
adhering by their bases, to those, which at the same 
moment were emulating the heavens. 

A boat had been engaged, the evening before, 
and we now rowed out upon the lake, and hastened 
to old Fort George, whose circular massy walls of 
stone, still twenty feet high, and in pretty good 
preservation, rise upon a hill about a quarter of a 
mile from the southern shore of the lake. I was 
anxious to enjoy, from this propitious spot, the ad- 
vancing glories of the morning, which, by the time 
we had reached our station, were glowing upon the 
mountain tops, with an eifulgence, that could be 
augmented by nothing but the actual appearance of 
ihe king of day. 

Now, the opposite mountains— those that form 
the western barrier, were strongly illuminated down 
their entire declivity, while tlie twin barrier of the 
eastern shore (its ridge excepted) was still in deep 
shadow ; the vapour on the lake, which was just 
sufficient to form the softened blending of light and 
shade, while it veiled the lake only in spots, and 
left its outline and most of its surface perfectly dis- 
tinct, began to form itself into winrows,* and clouds 

* This, possibly, is an American word, (meaning the rows of 
hay, that are raked together in a meadow, before the hay is 
thrown into heaps ;) it exactly describes the vp^pour, as it appear- 
ed, in some places, on the lake, and I knew no other word that 
did. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 147 

and castles, and to recede from the water, as if con- 
scious that its dominion must now be resigned. 

The retreat of the vapour formed a very beauti- 
ful part of the scenery ; it was the moveable light 
drapery, which, at first, adorning the bosom of the 
lake, soon after began to retire up the sides of the 
mountains. 

At the distance of twelve or fourteen miles, the 
lake turns to the right, and is lost among the moun- 
tains ; to the left, is north-west Bay, more remote 
and visible from the fort. 

The promontory, which forms the point of junc- 
tion between the lake and the bay, rises into lofty 
peaks and ridges, and apparently forms the north- 
ern termination of the lake. 

Up these mountains, which are even more grand 
and lofty, than those on the sides of the lake, the 
vapour, accumulated by a very slight movement of 
the atmosphere from the south, rolled in immense 
masses, every moment changing their form ; now 
obscuring the mountains almost entirely, and now 
veiling their sides, but permitting their tops to 
emerge, in unclouded majesty. 

Anxious to witness, from the surface of the lake, 
the first appearance of the sun's orb, we regained 
our boat, and, in a few moments, attained the de- 
sired position. Opposite to us, in the direction to- 
wards the rising sun, was a place or notch, lower 
than the general ridge of the mountains, and form- 
ed by the intersecting curves of two declivities. 



148 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Precisely through this place, were poured upon 
us the first rays, which darted down, as if in lines 
of burnished gold, diverging and distinct, as in a 
diagram ; the ridge of the eastern mountains, was 
fringed with fire, for many a mile ; the numerous 
islands, so elegantly sprinkled through the lake, and 
which recently appeared and disappeared, through 
the rolling clouds of mist, now received the direct 
rays of the sun, and formed so many gilded gar- 
dens ^ at last came the sun, "rejoicing in his 
strength," and, as he raised the upper edge of his 
burning disk into view, in a circle of celestial fire, 
the sight was too glorious to behold ; — it seemed, 
when the full orb was disclosed, as if he looked down 
with complacency, into one of the most beautiful 
spots in this lower world, and, as if gloriously re- 
presenting his great creator, he pronounced " it all 
very good." I certainly never before saw the sun 
rise with such majesty I have not exaggerated the 
effect, and, without doubt, it arises principally from 
the fact, that Lake George is so completely envi- 
roned by a barrier of high mountains, that it is in 
deep shade, while the world around is in light, 
and the sun, already risen for some time, does not 
dart a single ray upon this imprisoned lake, till, 
having gained a considerable elevation, he bursts, all 
at once, over the fiery ridge of the eastern moun- 
tains, and pours, not a horizontal, but a descending 
flood of light, which, instantly piercing the deep 
shadows, that rest on the lake, and on the western 



•* 



*■■ 





m 



TOUH RETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 149 

side of the eastern barrier, thus produces the finest 
possible effects of contrast. When the sun had at- 
tained a little height above the mountain, we ob- 
served a curious effect ; a perfect coneof light, with 
its base towards the sun, laj upon the water, and, 
from the vertex of the cone, which reached half 
across the lake, there shot out a delicate line of par- 
allel rays, which reached the western shore, and the 
whole very perfectly represented a gilded steeple. 
As this effect is opposite to the common form of the 
sun's effulgence, it must probably depend upon 
some peculiarities in the shape of the summits of 
the mountains at this place. 

PRINTS, NO. 3 AND 4. 

Forsome illustrations of the scenery of the south 
end of Lake George and of the preceding descrip- 
tion of it, reference may be had to the prints. No. 
3 and 4, — for which, as well as for all the similar 
ornaments of this volume, I am indebted to the pen- 
cil of my friend and fellow traveller. These two 
views were sketched by him, on a former tour, but 
are, in every respect, as appropriate to the present 
occasion, as to the one on which they were drawn. 

The view. No. 3, being taken from the water's 
edge, in front of the public house, in the village of 
Caldwell, which stands on the very shore of the 
south-western side of the lake, of course leaves 
that village in the rear, and exhibit?, as the most 



150 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 

prominent objects, the mountains, on the eastern 
shore forming a strong contrast with the peaceful 
bosom of the lake. Several of the islands are in 
sight, and pleasantly diversify the uniform surface 
of the water, the view of which, to the north, and 
north-west, is, necessarily, limited by the position 
of the observer. 

In print, No. 4, the observer being at Fort George, 
situated, as I have already remarked, at some dis- 
tance from the southern shore of the lake, and in a 
direction, about mid-way between its eastern and 
western sides, contemplates a prospect, considera- 
bly different from that seen in the other position. 
The eastern barrier is now much less in view : the 
promontory, where the lake turns off to the right, 
and is lost among the mountains, and where north- 
west bay stretches to the left and appears bounded 
by very high mountains, is immediately before him, 
at the distance of about twelve miles ; the islands, 
in view, are more numerous, and give greater varie- 
ty to the now more extended surface of the lake ; 
and, immediately at the observer's feet, is the ac- 
clivity, by which we ascend from the lake, to the 
old fort, upon the walls of which we are supposed 
to stand, and they, of course, are not in view. On 
the very shore, we observe one of the old barracks, 
formerly belonging to the fort, now exhibiting a 
tavern sign, and, till within a few years, constituting 
the only place of accommodation to those who vis- 
ited Lake George. At this place, although princi- 



Hf^'" 




T©UR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND q.UEBEC. 16l 

pally covered by the water, are the ruins of the old 
military quay or pier, formerly extending a good 
way into the lake, and affording important facilities 
to the numerous expeditions, that have sailed upon 
Lake George. 



REMARKS ON LAKE GEORGE AND ITS ENVIRONfc- 

Every one has heard of the transparency of the 
waters of Lake George. This transparency is, in- 
deed, very remarkable, and the same, (as we might 
indeed well suppose it would be,) is the fact with 
all the streams that pour into it. After the day 
light became strong, we could see the bottom per- 
fectly, in most places where we rowed, and it is said, 
that in fishing, even in twenty or twenty -five feet of 
water, the angler may select his fish, by bring- 
ing the hook near the mouth of the one which he 

prefers. 

Bass and trout are among the most celebrated 
fish of the lake ; the latter were now in season, and 
nothing of the kind can be finer ; this beautiful fish, 
elegantly decorated, and gracefully formed, shy of 
observation, rapid in its movements, and delighting, 
above all, in the perfect purity of its element, finds 
in Lake George, a residence, most happily adapted 
to its nature. Here it attains a very uncommon 
size, and exhibits its most perfect beauty and sym- 



152 TOUR BETWEEN HARTPOllD AND QUEI5EC. 

metry. The delicate carnation of its flesh, is here 
also most remarkable, and its flavour exquisite. 

If the lovers of the sublime and beautiful, visit 
Lake George, for its scenery, and the patriotic, to 
behold the places where their fathers stemmed the 
tide of savage invasion ; the epicure, also, will come 
not to cherish the tender and the heroic, nor to ad- 
mire the picluresque and the grand, but to enjoy 
the native luxuries of the place. 

The lake is about a mile wide near its head, and 
is sometimes wider, sometimes narrower than this, 
but rarely exceedinj^ two miles, through its length of 
thirty-six miles. It is said to contain as many 
islands, as there are days in the year. 

I had scarcely any opportunities of observing the 
mineralogy and geology of this region. 

The beautiful crystals of quartz, which all slrtm- 
gers obtain at Lake George, are got on the islands in 
the lake ; one about four miles from its head, (and 
called, of course, the diamond island,) has been 
principally famous for affording them ; there is a so- 
litary miserable cottacje upon this island, from 
which we saw the smoke ascending 5 — a woman, 
who lives in it, is facetiously called "the lady of the 
lake," but, probably no Malcolm Groeme, and Rhod- 
erick Dhu will ever contend on her account. 

Crystals are now obtained from other islands, I 
believe, more than from this, and they are said no 
longer to find the single loose crystals in abundance 



rotm BETWKEN HAllTFOUD AND Q,UEBE(;. 153 

on the shores, but break up the rocks for this pur- 
pose. Poor people occupy themselves in procur- 
ing crystals, which they deposit at the public house, 
for sale. 

The crystals of Lake George, are hardly surpass- 
ed by any in the world, for transparency, and for 
perfection of form ; they are, as usual, the six-sided 
prism, and are frequently terminated at both ends by 
six-sided pyramids. These last must, of course, be 
found loose, or, at least, not adhering to any rock ; 
those which are broken off, have necessarily only 
one pyramid.* I procured specimens of the rocky 
matrix, in which the crystals are formed ; it is of a 
quartzoze nature, and contains cavities finely stud- 
ded with crystals. 

The crystals of Lake George frequently contain 
a dark coloured foreign substance, enclosed all 
around, or partially so ; its nature, I believe, has not 
been ascertained ; it may be manganese, titanium, 
©r iron. 

I had no opportunity to see the rocks, except 
those on which Fort George stands, and which form 
the barrier of the lake, at its head ; they are a dove- 
coloured, compact lime-stone, of a very close grain, 
and smooth conchoidal fracture ; they very much 

* I have a crystal from Lake George, obtained by a solJier, 
and presented to the late President Dwight, which is between five 
and six inches long, by three broad, and is perfectly limpid, and 
well crystalized. 

J4 



154 TOUR BETWEEN HAKTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

resemble the marble of Middlebury, (Vermont,) 
and, I suppose, belong to the transition class. I 
could get no view of the rocks of the two lateral 
barriers, but, from what I afterwards saw, I conclude 
they are primitive, and probably (at least the eas- 
tern one,) gneiss.* 

The vulgar, about the lake, say, that in some pla- 
ces, it has no bottom ; by which, doubtless, ought 
to be understood that it is in some places so deep 
as not to be fathomed by their lines ; I know of no 
attempts to ascertain its greatest depth. 

The mountains are extensively, or rather almost 
universally in dense forest; rattle snakes and deer 
abound upon them, and hunting is still pursued here 
with success. 

I was credibly informed, that, a few years since, 
there was a man in this vicinity, who had the sin- 
gular power, and the still stranger temerity, to catch 
livino- rattle snakes with his naked hands, without 
wounding the snakes, or being wounded by them ; 
he used to accumulate numbers of them in this 
manner, for curiosity, or for sale, and, for a long 
time, persisted, uninjured, in this audacious prac- 
tice; but, at last, the awful fate, which all buthim- 

* Ur. Meade (Experimental Euquiry, &.c. p. 5,) remarks, that 
the eastern side of Lake Georgo iscoinposed of transition rocks . 
the head of this lake appears, indeed, to be transition lime-stonej 
and possibly its bed may be the same ; although the quartz from 
ti e islands, which 1 have not Tisited,) gives a different indica- 
tion ; both barriers are, however, undoubtedly primitive. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 153 

self, had expected, overtook him ; he was bitten, 
and died. Surely no motive, except one spring- 
ing from the highest moral duty, could have justifi- 
ed such an exposure. 

In some places, the mountains, contiguous to the 
shores, are rocky and precipitous. Tradition re- 
lates, that a white man, closely pursued, in the win- 
ter season, by two Indians, contrived to reach the 
ice, on the surface of the lake, by letting himself 
down one of thesfi precipices, and, before the In- 
dians could follow, he was on his skaits, and dart- 
ing, "swift as the winds along," was soon out of 
their reach. 

I am not informed that the height of the moun- 
tains, about Lake George, has ever been measured ; 
they appeared to my eye, generally, to exceed one 
thousand feet, and probably the highest may be fif- 
teen hundred, or more. 

The wreck of a steam-boat, recently burnt to the 
waters edge, lay near the tavern : it gave great fa- 
cility in going down this beautiful lake to Ticondero- 
ga; parties and individuals, were much in the habit 
of making this tour; and, were there a good road, 
instead of a very bad one, from Glenn's falls to 
Lake George, and were the steam-boat re-estab- 
lished, it must become as great a resort, as the lakes 
of Westmoreland and Cumberland, or as Loch Ka- 
trin, now immortalized by the muse of Scott. 

The village of Caldwell, built entirely since the 
American war, contains five or six hundred inhabit- 



156 TOUR BETWEEN HABTFORU A\D QUEBEC. 

ants, with neat buildings, public and private, and a 
very large commodious public house, well provided 
and attended, so that strangers, visiting the lake, can 
have every desired accommodation. This village, 
I am informed, has arisen principally from the ex- 
ertions of one enterprising individual, from whom it 
derives its name, as well as its existence. He has 
lived to see his labours crowned with success, and a 
pretty village now smiles at the foot of the western 
barrier of Lake George, on ground where the iron 
ranaparts of war are still visible; for, on this very 
ground, the Marquis Montcalm's army was en- 
trenched, at the siege of Fort William Henry, in 
}757. 



BATTLES OF LAKE GEORGE. 

In the wars of this country, Lake George has 
long been conspicuous. Its head waters formed the 
shortest, and most convenient connexion, between 
Canada, and the Hudson, and hence the establish- 
ment of Fort William Henry, in 1755, and, in more 
recent times, of Fort George, in its immediate vi- 
cinity. 

This most beautiful and peaceful lake, environed 
by mountains, and seeming to claim an exemption 
from the troubles of an agitated world, has often 
bristled with the proud array of vvar, has wafted its 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QTTEREC. 157 

most formidable preparations on its bosom, and has 
repeatedly witnessed both the splendors and the 
havoc of battle. 

Large armies have been, more than once, em- 
barked on Lake George, proceeding down it, on 
their way, to attack Ticonderoga and Crown Point; 
this was the fact with the army of Abercrombie, 
consisting of nearly sixteen thousand men, including 
nine thousand troops from the colonies, and a very 
formidable train of artillery, which, on the fifth of 
July 1758, embarked at the south end of Lake 
George, on board of one hundred twenty -five whale 
boats, and nine hundred batteaux. 

What an armament for that period of this coun- 
try ! What a spectacle, on such a narrow quiet lake ! 
It is said by an eye witness, to have been a most 
imposing sight. Little did this proud army imagine, 
that within two days, they would sustain, before Ti- 
conderoga, a most disastrous defeat, with the loss 
of nearly two thousand men, and of lord Howe,* 

* " Lord Howe, who was killed near Ticonderoga about two and 
a half miles from the French lines near the north end of Lake 
George, in a renconter the day preceding the disastrous assault, 
upon that fortress, was not the father, but the elder brother of 
the two Howes, who were so conspicuous in the Revolutionary 
War, and from him the Admiral, (being the elder of the two sur- 
viving brothers,) inherited the title of Viscount and afterwards 
became an Earl. Lord Howe was at the time of his fall, a young 
man, though a Major General. Ricliard, who succeeded to the 
title, was then a Captain in the British navy, and Gen. Sir. Wil- 
liam Howe was then a Colonel. In the accounts of the celebrated 
battle, on the Plains of Abraham, he is mentioned as commanding 

14* 



9 



158 TOUR BETWEEN HAKTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

one of their most beloved and promising leaders, 
and that they would so soon return up the lake, in 
discomfiture and disgrace. In July, of the next 
summer, (1759,) Lake George was again covered 
with an armament, little inferior in numbers, to that 
of General Abercrombie, but vastly superior in suc- 
cess j for Ticonderoga and Crown Point, were 
abandoned at its approach, and General Amherst, 
its fortunate leader, obtained an almost bloodless 
victory,* 



FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 

The remains of this old fort are still visible; they 
are on the verge of the lake, at its head ; the walls, 
the gate, and the out-works, can still be complete- 
ly traced; the ditches have, even now, considera- 
ble depth, and the well that supplied the garrison, 
is there, and affords water to this day; near, and 
in this fort, much blood has been shed. 

the British Light Infantry. These three Howes, were in fact, 
the Grandsons of George the First, being the children of his ille- 
gitimate daughter by Lady Darlington, married to Lord Viscount 
Howe. {Extract from a private anonymous communication to the 
author, correcting a mistake in the note on page 155, of the former 
edition.}— ISU. 

♦Colonel Roger Townhsend was killed by a cannon shot, while 
reconnoitering, on almost the same spot where lord Howe was 
killed, the year before : he is said to have resembled him much, 
"in birth, age, qualifications, and character." 



,?J» 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qUEBEC. 159 

In August, 1755, General, afterwards Sir Wil- 
(iam Johnson, lay at the head of Lake George, with 
an army, about to proceed to the attack of Crown 
Point; they were troops raised by the northern 
colonies. 

Baron Dieskau, who commanded the French 
forces in Canada, leaving Ticonderoga, came up 
Lake Champlain, through south bay, and was pro- 
ceeding to the attack of Fort Edward, which con- 
tained not five hundred men, and had been report- 
ed to Dieskau, to be without cannon. To the suc- 
cour of this fort, General Johnson detached one 
thousand men, and two hundred Indians, under 
Colonel Williams, of Deerfield. 

Dieskau's army, having in the mean time learn- 
ed that there were cannon at Fort Edward, and 
being assured that General Johnson's camp was 
without artillery or entrenchments, importuned 
their General to change his purpose of attacking 
Fort Edward, and to lead them northward, to assail 
Johnson's camp. Dieskau yielded to their wishes, 
and turned his course accordingly. The moun- 
tain?, which form the barrier of Lake George, con- 
tinue to the south after they leave the lake, form- 
ing a rugged, narrow defile, of several miles in 
length, most of which was then, and still is, filled 
with forest trees. 

In this defile, about four miles from GeneralJohn- 
son's camp, Colonel Williams' party, which left the 
camp, between eight and nine o'clock in the morn- 



160 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q.UEBEC. 

ing, of September 8th, 1755, very unexpectedly fell 
in with the army of Baron Dieskau; the two armies 
met in the road, front to front; the Indians of 
Dieskau's army were in ambuscade, upon both de- 
clivities of the mountains, and thus it was a complete 
surprise, for Colonel Williams had unhappily neg- 
lected to place any scouts upon his wings. A bloody 
battle ensued, and a deadly fire was poured in upon 
both flanks.-Colonel Williams, endeavouring to lead 
his men against the unseen enemy, was instantly 
shot through the head, and he, and hundreds of his 
party, including old Hendrick, the chief of the Mo- 
hawks, and forty Indians were slain. The remain- 
der of the party, under the command of Colonel 
Whiting, retreated into the camp. They came run- 
ning in, in the utmost confusion and consternation, 
and perhaps owed their safety, in a great measure, 
to another party, which, when the firing was heard, 
and perceived to be growing louder and nearer, was 
sent out to succour them. 

Judge Kent informed me, that old Mr. Van 
Schaik, of Kinderhook, has recently related to him 
that, arriving the next day, on the ground where the 
battle was fought, he saw three hundred men, dead 
on the spot, and Baron Dieskau lying, mortally 
wounded, in the English camp, on the bed of Gene- 
ral Johnson. This wound was received in a second, 
and a still greater battle, fought the same day. Dies- 
kau, after the retreat of Williams' party, marching on 
with spirit, attacked General Johnson's entrenched 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND <iUEBEC. 161 

camp, and although he fought with long and perse- 
vering valour, his arnny, in a great measure deserted 
by the Canadians and Indians, was repulsed with im- 
mense slaughter, Dieskau, wounded in the leg, and 
unable to follow his retreating army, was found lean- 
ing against a tree; he began to feel for his watch, in 
order to deliver it up to the soldier, who was ap- 
proaching him; but the soldier supposing him to be 
searching for a pistol, unhappily tired a charge into 
his hips which caused his death.* 

Nor did this battle terminate the fighting of this 
bloody day. The remains of Dieskau's army re- 
treated, about four miles, to the ground where Co- 
lonel Williams had been defeated in the morning, 
— the rear of the army were there sitting upon the 
ground, had opened their knapsacks, and were re- 
freshing themselves, when Captain McGinnies, who 

* An anonymous correspondent, to whom I am indebted for 
several kind and judicious suggestions, respecting this book, some- 
what questions, whether Baron Dieskau died of his wound, and 
thinks that he recovered and returned to Europe, but at the same 
time states that the account in the text, corresponds with the 
traditionary stories which he had heard in his childhood. — The 
book from which I quoted the fact, was a very early history of 
those campaigns, in V2 mo. loaned to me, at the time, as a pocket 
travelling history, by Chancellor Kent.— Its title I do not now 
remember, and believe it was anonymous. 

President Dwight in his travels. Vol. 3, page 361, gives a very 
interesting and full history of the battles of Lake George. — His 
account of the manner in which Dieskau received his wound cor- 
responds precisely with mine, but he adds, that he "was convey- 
ed from Albany to New- York, and fr»:n thence to England, where 
soon after he died." 



162 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

with two hundred men, had been dispatched from 
Fort Edward, to succour the main body, came up 
with this portion of the French army, thus sitting 
insecurity, and attacked and totally defeated them, 
although he was himself mortally wounded. Thus 
were three battles fought in one day,* and almost 
upon the same ground. This ground I went over. 
The neighbouring mountain, in which the French 
so suddenly made their appearance, is to this day, 
called French Mountain, and this name, with the 
tradition of the fact, will be sent down to the latest 
posterity. I was shown a rock by the road at 
which a considerable slaughter took place. It was 
on the east side of the road near where Col. Wil- 
liams fell, and I am informed is, to this day, called 
Williams^ Rock. 



THE BLOODY TOm). 

Just by the present road, and in the midst of 
these battle grounds, is a circular pond, shaped ex- 
actly like a bowl ; it may be two hundred feet in 
diameter, and was, when 1 saw it, full of water, and 
covered zoith the pond lilly, Alas! this pond, now 
so peaceful, was the common sepulchre of the 
brave; the dead bodies of most of those who were 
slain on this eventful day, were thrown, in undis- 

* Smollet and some other writers place this last battle on the 
ucxt day. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 163 

tinguished confusion into this pond ; from that time 
to the present, it has been called the bloody pond, 
and there is not a child in this region, but will point 
you to the French mountain, and to the bloody 
pond. — I stood with dread, upon its brink, and 
threw a stone into its unconscious waters. After 
these events, a regular fort was constructed at the 
head of the lake and called Fort William Henry. 



MASSACRE OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 

The three battles of September 8th, were not 
the end of the tragedies of Lake George. The 
Marquis de Montcalm, after three ineffectual at- 
tempts upon Fort William Henry, made great ef- 
forts to besiege it in form, and in August, 1 757, 
having landed ten thousand men near the fort sum- 
moned it to surrender. The place of his landing 
was shown me, a little north of the public house ; 
the remains of his batteries and other works are 
still visible ; and the graves and bones of the slain 
are occasionally discovered. 

He had a powerful train of artillery, and although 
the fort and works were garrisoned by three thou- 
sand men, and were most gallantly defended by the 
commander. Colonel Monroe, it was obliged to capit- 
ulate; but the most honourable terms, were granted 
to Colonel Monroe, in consideration of his great gal- 



164 TOUR BETWEEN JIABTPOHD AND Q,UEBEC. 

lantry. The bursting of the great guns, the want o( 
ammunition, and above all, the failure of General 
Webb to succour the fort, although he lay idle at 
Fort Edward with four thousand men, were the 
causes of this catastrophe. 

The capitulation was, however, most shamefully 
broken ; the Indians attached to Montcalm's army, 
while the troops were marching out of the gate of 
the fort, dragged the men from the ranks, particu- 
larly the Indians in the English service, and butch- 
ered them in cold blood — they plundered all with- 
out distinction, and murdered women and little 
children, with circumstances of the most aggravated 
barbarity.* The massacre continued all along the 
road, through the defile of the mountains, and for 
many miles, the miserable prisoners, especially 
those in the rear, were tomahawked and hewn 
down in cold blood ; it might well be called the 
bloody dfjile, for it was the same ground that was 
the scene of the battles, only two years before, in 
1755. It is said thatefforts were made by the French 
to restrain the barbarians, but thej were not restrain- 
ed, and the miserable remnant of the garrison with 
difficulty reached Fort Fdward pursued by the In- 

* Mea and women had Iheir throats cut, their bodies ripped 
open, and their bowels, with insult, thrown in their faces. — In- 
fants and children were barbarously taken by the heels, and their 
brains dashed out against stones and trees. The Indians pursued 
the English nearly half the way to Fort Edward, where the 
greatest number of them arrived in a most forlorn condition. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. J 65 

dians, although escorted by a body of French troops. 
I passed over the whole of the ground, upon which 
this tragedy was acted, and the oldest men of the 
country still remember this deed of guilt and infa- 
my. 

Fort William Henry was levelled by Montcalm, 
and has never been rebuilt. Fort George was 
built as a substitute for it, on a more commanding 
site, and although often mentioned in the history 
of subsequent wars, was not, I believe, the scene of 
any very memorable event. 

It was the depot for the stores of the army of 
General Burgoyne, till that commander relinquish- 
ed his connexion with the lakes, and endeavoured 
to push his fortunes without depending upon his 
magazines in the rear. 

Having occupied a very busy morning in visiting 
the memorable places at the head of Lake George, 
and having procured specimens of the mineral pro- 
ductions of this region, I proceeded on my journey 
to P^'ort Anne. Mr. H , my obliging compan- 
ion, attended me, and we were necessitated to re- 
turn some miles through the gorge of the moun- 
tains, and again to view the bloody pond, the French 
Mountain, and the bloody defile. Rarely, I pre- 
sume, have such scenes of horror been exhibited so 
often, within so narrow a space. We may confi- 
dently trust, that they will never be repeated; that 
Lake George, traversed no longer by armies, its 

forests and its mountains undisturbed by the roar 

15 



166 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

of cannon, and its waters polluted no more by 
blood ; but visited in peace, by the lovers of the 
sublime and beautiful, and arrayed in its own gran- 
deur and loveliness, will hereafter exhibit the tra- 
gical history of other times, only to impart a pen- 
sive tenderness and a moral dignity to the charming 
scenes with which the story of these events is asso- 
ciated. 

As we emerged from the defile, and turned to 
the left, around the base of the mountains that form 
the eastern barrier of Lake George, we had many 
opportunities of admiring the grandeur of that bar- 
rier, and of contemplating all that wildness of land- 
scape, which, it may be presumed, has undergone 
little change, since it was traversed by the prowling 
savage, intent on the chase, or on his more beloved 
employment, the destruction of his fellow creatures. 
In this dreadful occupation he has, however, been 
more than rivalled by the polished nations of Amer- 
ica and of Europe ; who, if they do not pursue war 
with the atrocity of the savage, seem to have fol- 
lowed it with all his eagerness, and have often iden- 
tified themselves with his most horrid cruelties, by 
calling him in as an ally and a friend, and marching 
by his side to slaughter those who are connected by 
the common, (it ought to be by the sacred,) tie of 
Christianity. 

In the progress of our ride, we emerged from 
mountain scenery, and saw many good farms, and 
much arable and pnstnie land. The country be- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AMD QUEBEC. 167 

came much less rugged, although the roads were 
h'ttle improved by art ; for they were common and 
often obscure cross roads. 

We met with no adventure, and the failure of 
one of our waggon wheels, which obliged us to 
wallc, and to sustain the vehicle for the last two 
miles, did not prevent our arriving at the appointed 
hour of dinner at old Fort Anne, which Mr. Wads- 
worth had already reached before me. 

Fort Anne was another post established in the 
French wars. It stood about midway between Fort 
Edward and the most southern point of Lake 
Champlain, and at the head of batteaux navigation 
on Wood Creek. I did not go to its site, the ruins 
of which, I am told are almost obliterated; its 
well, however, is still to be seen. There is a con- 
siderable village here, which bears the name of the 
Fort. 

******* 

[In May, 1821, I again visited Lake George and 
its environs, and passed in an open boat down the 
whole length of the Lake, by water, to Ticondero- 
ga. The observations on mineralogy and scenery, 
which were made at that time, were printed in the 
American Journal of Science, (Vol, IV, p. 44.) 
As they may be of use to the traveller, I insert them 
in this place, although they will somewhat break 
the order of the narrative. But this slight incon- 
venience, and the unavoidable anachronism, will 



168 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

probably be pardoned if the observations should be 
found to be useful. 



Miscellaneous remarks on the mineralogy, scenery, 
^c. of Lake George, and its environs, made in 
May, 1821. 

Compact dove-coloured limestone, apparently of 
the transition class forms ledges at thehead of Lake 
George, and the walls of old Fort George are com- 
posed of it. In this limestone there is a singular 
feature. Its angles are rounded and smoothed, as 
by the wearing effects of water and (a circumstance 
which it appears much more difficult to account 
for,) there are numerous holes worn into the solid 
rock, sometimes shallow and irregular, but fre- 
quently deep and cylindrical, and bearing a vcry^ 
exact resemblance to those which are common in 
the ledges upon which cataracts fall ; they appear 
as if they were produced by the same cause, viz. 
the wearing agency of water aided by small stones, 
which it impels, in incessant vortiginous revolutions. 
If one were to judge from appearances, he would 
infer that a torrent of water once swept, with great 
impetuosity through thisdefile and wore these rocks 
as we now see them ; this supposition has perhaps 
nothing io support it, except these appearances, 
and if we relinquish it, we have no agent to which 
we can attribute them, but the ordinary wearing ef- 
fects of atmospheric influences, which appear alto- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qiTEREO. 169 

gether incompetent to the production of these re- 
sults. 

Quartz crystals in the Islands of the Southend of 
Lake George. These are commonly obtained by 
visitors ; they are now become much more rare 
than formerly, and those which are procured are 
small, although still very limpid and beautiful. On 
visiting the Island called Diamond Island, three or 
four miles from the village of Caldwell, and which 
has afforded most of these crystals we found them 
occurring in the same compact limestone, which 
forms the ledges at the head of the lake. This small 
island scarcely covering the area of a common 
kitchen garden is inhabited by a family who occu- 
py a small but comfortable house, and constantly 
explore the rocks for the crystals. These are 
found lining drusy cavities, and forming geodes in 
the limestone ; these cavities are often brilliantly 
studded with them and doubtless it arose from their 
falling out by the disintegration of the rock that the 
crystals were formerly found on the shores of the 
island and in the water. At present they are 
scarcely obtained at all except by breaking the 
rocks. The immediate matrix of the crystals 
seems to be a mixture of fine granular quartz with 
the limestone ; it is impressible by steel, but some- 
times does not effervesce with acids though general- 
ly it does and feebly scratches glass. The crystals 
of this locality are of the common form, very lim- 

15* 



170 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

pid, and often contain a dark coloured foreign sub- 
stance imbedded in them. 

Crystals of Calcareous spar well defined and of 
considerable size occur in the same rocks, some- 
times with the quartz crystals and sometimes by 
themselves ; they appear to be modifications of the 
rhomboidal varieties. 

Very brilliant rhombic masses of Calcareous spar 
also present themselves in these rocks ; these mas- 
ses are not crystals, but have the crystaline struc- 
ture, giving perfectly rhomboidal fragments with a 
high pearly lustre ; they are very white and appear 
exactly like the Iceland crystals only they are not 
transparent. They seem to be the bitter-spath. 
The poor people on the Island, had no idea that the 
calcareous crystals were of any value, and had been 
in the habit of throwing them away ; we took care 
to give them a different impression, and trust it may 
be useful to future visitors. 

Crystals of Diamond point. — We passed down 
the whole length of the lake (thirty-six miles) in a 
very small open boat — a fisherman's skiff rowed by 
two men. We stopped at a place on the north 
shore of the lake called Diamond Point, from the 
fact that crystals are found also at this place. — It 
has been recently opened by the man who lives on 
the Island and who was our guide on the present 
occasion. — The rock and its associated minerals 
are the same as on the Island, only we observed a 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 171 

greater variety of siliceous minerals; — portions of 
chalcedony, andhornstone and agate — elegant cav- 
ities occupied by quartz crystals and some singular 
banded portions concentric and curved like agate, 
but without beauty. It is probable that more re- 
search will discover interesting varieties of siliceous 
and other minerals, in the limestone of the south 
end of Lake George. It would probably repay a 
good observer who should investigate it with indus- 
try and attention. 

Sands of Lake George. — At various places we ex- 
amined the sands ofthe shores of this most beauti- 
ful lake. Around its head, there is a good deal of 
magnetic iron sand of a fine glossy black, and both 
here and in many other places, we found the de- 
tritus to consist almost entirely ofthe ruins of prim- 
itive rocks and of their imbedded and especially of 
their crystalline minerals. — Limpid quartz, garnet, 
and epidote are of most frequent occurrence and 
when mixed with the black iron sand they have a 
pleasing appearance, especially when spread out 
on paper and viewed with a magnifier. It is indeed 
somewhat difficult to believe, that the garnet and 
epidote and probably coccolite often rich in their 
colours and highly translucent, are not ruby and 
chrysoberyl. It would be worth while to examine 
these sands more particularly to ascertain whether 
these may not be gems among them, as the gems of 
Ceylon and of Brazil, and the hyacinths of Expail- 
ly in France are found among alluvial ruins. Some 



172 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

sands shown us by Prof. Dewey at Williamstown, 
and which came from the great falls of the Hudson 
thirty miles above Glenn's falls, are even more re- 
markable for richness and beauty than those of 
Lake George : they and all similar sands should 
be examined with an attentive eye. 

Transparency and purity of the Waters of Lake 
George. — The fact is notorious and the degree in 
which it exists is most remarkable : the bottom 
and the fish are seen at a great depth : the fisher- 
man who rowed us asserted that they could at par- 
ticular times see the fish at the depth of 50 ieei : 
if even half this statement be admitted, it is suffi- 
ciently remarkable. The water is also very pure, 
salubrious and agreeable to the taste. It is well 
known that the French formerly obtained and ex- 
ported this water for religious uses, and that they 
called the lake St. Sacrament. 

The cause of the transparency and purity of 
these waters is obvious. With the exception of small 
quantities of transition limestone, its shores as far 
as we saw them, are composed of primitive rocks, 
made up principally of siliceous and other very 
firm and insoluble materials. The streams by 
which the lake is fed, flow over similar substances, 
and the waves find nothing to dissolve or to hold 
mechanically suspended. Clay which abounds 
around the head waters of the contiguous lake 
(Champlain) and renders them turbid, scarcely ex- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 173- 

ists here. It is remarkable, however, that as we 
approach Lake Champlain in the vicinity of Ticon- 
deroga, the waters of Lake George become, for a 
(ew miles somewhat turbid, and near the efflux thej 
are very much so. 

Hamatiie. — This mineral appears to abound in 
the primitive mountains around Lake George. 
They informed us at the village of Caldwell, that 
emery had been discovered down the lake and was 
used considerably for polishing, grinding, &c. We 
obtained some of this mineral from a promontory 
called Anthony's nose (familiarly called by the boat- 
men Tony's nose,) a few miles south of Ticondero- 
ga, and nearly opposite to Rogers Rock. It is a 
handsome and very well characterized bcematite ; 
it is compact lamellar, fibrous, mamillary, botryoid- 
al, &c. presenting the usual appearances of this 
most valuable iron ore, which seems to be far less 
common in the United States, than the black and 
brown varieties. The colour and powder of this 
haematite are bright red. The people were un- 
willing to admit that it was not emery, since it pol- 
ishes and grinds, but this is well known to be a 
property of hoematite as well as of other forms of 
the oxide of iron. 

The hoematite of Lake George may very possi- 
bly answer (or bloodstones, so much used in polish- 
ing gilded buttons, Sec. 

Flesh red Feldspar and compact Epidote. — These 
minerals we observed on the western shore of Lake 



174 TOUR BETWEE.V HABTFOKD AND qUEBEC. 

George, eight miles from Ticonderoga. The feld- 
spar was in very large plates in granite, and the epi- 
dote in loose stones : the epidote was of a very 
intense yellow, like that of chrome, but with a 
shade of green. Other minerals of more common 
occurrence, as garnet and black tourmaline were 
observed here. 

Plumbago. — This mineral of singular beauty oc- 
curs near Ticonderoga, both massive and dissemin- 
ated in brilliant plates, in a large grained crystal- 
lized limestone. It has been mistaken for molyb- 
dena, a circumstance which a few years ago was 
common in this country. This locality we did not 
visit, nor the celebrated one near Rogers Rock 
where the coccolite is found. 

Magnetic Iron of Crown Point, — We were not 
able to visit this place, but we saw them working 
the magnetic iron from its vicinity, in the forges of 
Ticonderoga. The iron ore is both rich and beau- 
tiful in its kind ; — it has a brilliant black colour, 
and contains a yellowish imbedded mineral, scarce- 
ly visible without a glass ; it resembles coccolite 
but is too soft, and at present we are not willing to 
give it a name. 

Mountains of Lake George. — There can be no 
doubt that whenever they are thoroughly explored 
they will abundantly reward the geologist and min- 
eralogist. We however saw them only as pictur- 
esque objects ; as such they are certainly very fine. 
Particularly as we proceed north from the Tongue 



TOO It BETWEEN HARTFORD AND q,UEBEC, 1 76 

Mountain, which is twelve miles from Caldwell. 
For twenty miles beyond this, on the way to Ti- 
conderoga, the scenery combines in an uncommon 
degree, both richness and grandeur. The moun- 
tains are all primitive : they form a double barrier, 
between which the lake, scarcely a mile wide, but 
occasionally expanding into large bays, winds its 
way. They are steep and precipitous to the very 
water's edge : they are still clothed with grand 
trees, and possessed by wild animals — deer, 
bears, &:c. They give in some places, the most 
distinct and astonishing echoes, returning ev- 
ery flexion of the voice with the most faithful re- 
sponse. We saw them hung with the solemn dra- 
pery of thunder clouds, dashed by squalls of wind 
and rain, and soon after decorated with rainbows, 
whose arches did not surpass the mountain ridges, 
while they terminated in the lake and attended our 
little skiff for many miles. The setting sun also 
gilded the mountains and the clouds that hovered 
over them and the little islands, which in great 
numbers rise out of the lake and present green 
patches of shrubbery and trees, apparently spring- 
ing from the water, and often resembling, by their 
minuteness and delicacy, the clumps of a park, or 
even the artificial groups of a green house. Fine 
as is the scenery at the southern end of the lake 
and in all the wider part of it, within the compass 
of the first twelve miles from fort George — its gran- 
deur is much augmanted, after passing Tongue 



176 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Mountain and entering the narrow part where the 
mountains close in upon you on both sides, and pre- 
sent an endless diversity of grand and beautiful 
scenery. It is a pleasing reflection, that even after 
this part of the United Stales, shall have become as 
populous as England or Holland, this lake will still 
retain the fine peculiarities of its scenery, for they 
are too bold, too wild, and too untractable, ever to 
be materially softened and spoiled by the hand of 
man. Deer are still hunted with success upon the 
borders of this lake. The hounds drive them from 
the recesses of the mountains, when they take re- 
fuge in the water, and the huntsmen easily overtak- 
ing in an element not their own, seize them by 
the horns, knock them on the head, and dragging 
their necks over the side of the boat, cut their 
throats. 

There is a celebrated mountain about fourteen 
miles from Ticonderoga, called the Buck moun- 
tain, from the fact that a buck, pursued by the dogs 
leaped from its summit over-hanging (he lake in 
the form of a precipice, and was literally impaled 
alive upon a sharp pointed tree which projected be- 
low.* 

* This circumstance was mentioned to me by the man whose 
dogs drove the buck to this desperate extremity. lie statej that 
he bad sometimes taken forty deer in a season. 



T«UR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. iTf 

BATTLE NEAR FORT ANNE. 

Leaving Fort Anne we crossed Wood Creek, 
and our journey to Whitehall was almost constant- 
ly along its banks, or very near them. 

At a narrow pass between some high rocks and 
the river, we were sbown the place where, on the 
8th of July, 1777, the 9th British regiment, belong- 
ing to General Burgoyne's army, sustained a hea- 
vy loss, by a conflict with the Americans under Co- 
lonel Long. 

After the surrender of Ticonderoga, General 
Burgoyne endeavoured to keep up the alarm, by 
spreading his parties over the country. With this 
view. Colonel Hill, at the head of the 9th regiment, 
was dispatched after Colonel Long, who, with four 
or five hundred men, principally the invalids and 
convalescents of the ar my, had taken post at Fort 
Anne, and was directed by General Schuyler to de- 
fend it. Colonel Long, with his party, did not wait 
an attack from the enemy, but boldly advanced to 
meet them. "At half past ten in the morning, (says 
Major Forbes,* of the British regiment,) they at- 
tacked us in front, with a heavy and well directed 
tire ; a large body of them passed the creek on the 
left, and fired from a thick wood across the creek 
on the left flank of the regiment : they then began 
to recross the creek and attack us in the rear; we 



5 



Burgoyne's state of the Expedition, &c. 

16 



178 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

then found it necessary to change our ground, to 
prevent the reginient's being surrounded ; we took 
post on the top of a hill to our right. As soon as 
we had taken post, the enemy made a very vigo- 
rous attack, which continued for upwards of two 
hours ; and they certainly would have forced us, had 
it not been for some Indians that arrived and gave 
the Indian whoop, which we answered with three 
cheers ; the rebels soon after that gave away." — 
The giving way of the Americans was, however, 
caused, not by the terror of the war whoop, but by 
the failure of their ammunition. The fact was, the 
British regiment was worsted, and would probably 
bave been taken or destroyed, had Colonel Long 
been well supplied with ammunition. It was said 
by Captain Money, another British officer, that the 
fire was even heavier than it was in the obstinate 
battle of September 19th, on Bemus' heights. The 
scene of this battle is very correctly described 
above, by Major Forbes. 

On leaving the street of Fort Anne village, wc 
crossed a bridge over Wood Creek, and were now 
on its left bank. Immediately after, we came to a 
narrow pass, only wide enough for the carriage, and 
cut, in a great measure, out of a rocky ledge, which 
terminates here, exactly at the creek. This ledge 
is the southern end of a high rocky hill, which con- 
verges toward Wood Creek, and between the two 
is a narrow tract of level ground, which terminates 
at the pass already mentioned. On this ground the 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 179 

battle took place, and the wood on the right bank of 
the creek, fronn which the Americans fired upon the 
left flank of the British, is still there, and it was up 
this rocky hill that they retreated, and took their 
stand. 

General Burgoyne, as usual, claimed a victory in 
this affair, which is understood to have been a 
bloody contest, as indeed it obviously must have 
been, from the narrowness of the defile, and the 
consequent nearness of the contending parties. — 
Captain Montgomery, of Colonel Hill's regiment, 
was left wounded on the field, and taken prisoner 
by the Americans, which could not have been the 
fact, had the Royal party been victorious. 

Immediately after leaving this battle ground, we 
arrived on the banks of the canal, which is to con- 
nect the Hudson with Lake Champlain. Being al- 
most constantly in sight of it, and very often as near 
it as possible, we were seriously incommoded by 
deep gullies, and heaps of miry clay, thrown out by 
the canal diggers, through which we were compel- 
led to drag our way ; and when we were not in the 
mud, we found a road excessively rough and uncom- 
fortable, from the united effect of much rain and 
much travelling, with occasional hot sunshine, in a 
country whose basis is a stiff clay. We rode almost 
constantly in sight of Wood Creek, as well as of the 
canal. 

The rocks on our ride were immense strata of 
gneiss, often so full of garnets that the ledges ap- 



180 TOBB BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

peared, at a great distance, spotted with red and 
brown. These primitive hills have every appear- 
ance of being continued, uninterruptedly, to Lake 
George, and it is evident that its eastern barrier 
must be primitive. 

After a very fatiguing journey from Fort Anne, 
several miles of which 1 walked, we arrived safely 
at Whitehall, at the head of Lake Champlain, a lit- 
tle before night. 

I am told there are, on parts of the road from 
Fort Edward, remains of the causeway, which Gen- 
eral Burgoyne, with so much labor, constructed 
for the passage of his army ; but I did not see 
them,* It will be remembered, that his route 
was from Skeensborough (now Whitehall,) to Fort 
Edward. 



WHITEHALL— THE CANAL. 

The canal terminates twenty-two miles from Fort 
Edward, at Whitehall, where they are now con- 

* On a subsequent journey, two years after, from Whitehall 
to Sandy Hill, I saw this road in many places; for several miles, 
it was almost constantly in view, and in a few places we travelled 
on it. It was composed of timber laid very compactly — the logs 
and smaller sticks being nearly or quite in contact ; and when it 
is considered that it was cut through a thick forest, most of which 
was a deep morass, and that the pioneers were constantly expos- 
ed to our sharp shooters, it implies great energy on the part of the 
roya! army. In many places, it is still in pretty good preserva- 
tion.— 1824. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 181 

structing a lock, with handsome massy hewn stone. 
There is a considerable descent to the surface of 
Lake Champlain, and Wood Creek, whose mouth 
and that of the canal are side by side, here rushes 
down a considerable rapid with some grandeur. 
This is the place formerly called the falls of Wood 
Creek, at Skeensborough. 

As Wood Creek is really a river, navigable by 
larger boats than those which will probably pass on 
the canal, and as the canal and river from Fort 
Anne, a distance of about ten or eleven miles, are 
often close together, so that a stone might be thrown 
from the one to the other, a traveller naturally in- 
quires why the larger natural canal should, with vast 
expense, be deserted for the smaller artificial one. 
The answer will probably be founded upon the 
shortening of distance, by avoiding the numerous 
windings of the creek — the obtaining of a better 
horse road for dragging the boats — security from 
the effects of floods and drought, in altering the 
quantity of water — and the securing of a more ad- 
equate supply of water for that part of the route 
between Fort Anne and the Hudson ; in either 
case, there must be locks at Whitehall.* 

*The immense utility of this canal is already sufficiently 
obvious in the vast quantities of lumber and other commodities 
which now find their way into the Hudson.— March, 1824. 

16* 



182 TOUB BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

WHITEHALL PORT. 

This is a well built, and apparently thriving little 
place, situated on both branches of the muddy 
Wood Creek, which, on its way to the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, sluggishly fldws through the village, 
till it makes its escape into Lake Champlain ; it 
then tumbles down a steep declivity, over a bed of 
rocks, and foams, and roars, as if in exultation, at 
making its escape from its own Lethean chan- 
nel. 

Whitehall, anciently called Skeensborough, was 
famous in General Burgoyne's campaign. Here he 
destroyed the little American flotilla, in July, 1777, 
and the baggage and stores of the American army ; 
and here he had his head quarters for some time, 
while preparing to pass his army and heavy artil- 
lery over land to Fort Edward. 

Whitehall is situated at the bottom of a narrow 
defile in the mountain?, and has the bustle and 
crowded aspect of a porl, without the quiet and 
cleanliness of a village. Some of the houses are 
situated on elevations and declivities, and some in 
the bottom of the vale — some are of wood, and 
others of brick, but I was gratitied to see many of 
them handsomely constructed of stone — of the fine 
gneiss rock which abounds here — the two parts 
of the town are connected by a bridge over Wood 
Creek. The population of this town is between 
two and three thousand, and the village contains a 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 183 

Presbyterian meeting-house, four ware-houses, tea 
stores, and more than an hundred dweUing-houses.* 

The fever and ague is now very prevalent here, 
and many sallow faces, and feeble frames, are to be 
seen about the streets. 

The country, both up Wood Creek, and down 
the lake contiguous to the town, looks as if it might 
nourish fever and ague, but the inhabitants deny 
that it is their inheritance, and profess to consider 
the visitation of this summer as fortuitous. I am 
afraid that their canal, with its stagnant waters, will 
not help them to more health. A thick fog prevail- 
ed here, most of the time that we were in the place, 
and rendered it uncomfortable to move out of 
doors till the middle of the forenoon, when it blew 
away. 

This will probably become a considerable place, 
situated as it is, at the head of the lake navigation, 
and at the point of communication, between the 
Hudson and Lake Champlain. It derived some 
ephemeral importance, from the local navy main- 
tained on the lake, in time of war; there is a small 
naval arsenal here, and at present there are a few 
naval officers and men at this station. 



THE OLD MAN OF THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV. 

Two miles from Whitehall, on the Salem road to 
Albany, lives Henry Francisco, a native of France, 

♦Worcester's Gazetteer. ' 



184 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

and of a place which he pronounced Essex ; but 
doubtless this is not the orthography, and the place 
was, probably, some obscure village, which may 
Dot be noted in maps and gazetteers. 

Having a few hours to spare, before the depar- 
ture of the steam-boat for St. John's, in Canada, 
we rode out to see (probably,) the oldest man in 
America. He believes himself to be one hundred 
and thirty-four years old, and the country around 
believe him to be of this great age. When we ar- 
rived at his residence, (a plain farmer's house, not 
painted, rather out of repair, and much open to the 
wind,) he was up stairs, at his daily work, of spool- 
ing and winding yarn. This occupation is auxiliary 
to that of his wife, who is a weaver, and although 
more than eighty years old, weaves six yards 
a day, and the old man can supply her with 
more yarn than she can weave. Supposing he must 
be very feeble, we offered to go up stairs to him ; 
but he soon came down, walking somewhat stoop- 
ing, and supported by a staff, but with less apparent 
inconvenience, than most persons exhibit at eighty- 
five or ninety. His stature is of the middle size, and 
although his person is rather delicate and slender, 
he stoops but little, even when unsupported. His 
complexion is very fair and delicate, and his expres- 
sion bright, cheerful, and intelligent ; his features are 
handsome, and considering that they have endured 
through one third part of a second century, they 
are regular, comely, and, wonderfully undisfigured 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 185 

by the hand of time ; his eyes are of a lively blue ; 
his profile is Grecian, and very fine ; his head is 
completely covered with the mostbeautifuland deli- 
cate white locks imaginable ; they are so long and 
abundant as to fall gracefully from the crown of his 
head, parting regularly from a central point, and 
reaching down to his shoulders ; his hair is perfect- 
ly snow white, eexcpt where it is thick in his neck; 
when parted there, it shows some few dark ehades, 
the remnants of a former century. 

He still retains the front teeth of his upper jaw : 
his mouth is not fallen in, like that of old people 
generally, and his lips, particularly, are like those of 
middle life ; his voice is strong and sweet toned, 
although a little tremulous ; his hearing very little 
impaired, so that a voice of usual strength, with dis- 
tinct articulation, enables him to understand ; his eye- 
sight is sufficient for his work, and he distinguishes 
large print, such as the title page of the Bible, with- 
out glasses ; his health is good, and has always 
been so, except that he has now a cough and ex- 
pectoration. 

He informed us, that his father, driven out of 
France, by religious persecution, fled to Amster- 
dam ; by his account, it must have been in conse- 
quence of the persecutions of the French protestants, 
or Hugonots, in the latter part of the reign of Louis 
XIV. At Amsterdam, his father married his moth- 
er, a Dutch woman, five years before he was born, 
and, before that event, returned with her, into 



186 TOUR BETWEKN HARTFORD AND (QUEBEC. 

France. When he was five years old, his father 
again fled on account of " de rehgion,'? as he 
expressed it, (for his language, although very intel- 
ligible English, is marked by French peculiarities.) 
He says, he well remembers their flight, and that it 
was in the winter ; for, he recollects, that as they 
were descending a hill, which was covered with 
snow, he cried out to his father. " O fader, do go 
back and get my little carriole,'' — (a little boy's 
sliding sledge or sleigh.) 

From these dates we are enabled to fix the time of 
bis birth, provided he is correct in the main fact, for 
he says he was present at Queen Anne's coronation, 
and was then sixteen years old, the 31st day of May, 
old style. His father, (as he asserts,) after his re- 
turn from Holland, had again been driven from 
France, by persecution, and the second time took 
refuge in Holland, and afterwards in England 
where he resided, with his family, at the time of the 
coronation of Queen Anne, in 1702. This makes 
Francisco to have been born in 1686 ; to have been 
expelled from France in 1691, and therefore, to have 
completed his hundred and thirty-third year on the 
eleventh of last June ; of course, he is now more 
than three months advanced in his hundred and 
thirty-fourth year. It is notorious, that about this 
time multitudes of French protestants fled, on ac- 
count of the persecutions of Louis XIV, resulting 
from the revocation of the edict of Nantz. which oc- 
curred October 12, 1685, and, notwithstanding the 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 187 

guards upon the frontiers, and other measures of 
precaution, or rigor, to prevent emigration, it is well 
known, that for years, muhitudes continued to make 
their escape, and that thus Louis lost six hundred 
thousand of his best and most useful subjects. I 
asked Francisco, if he sazo Queen Anne crowned ; 
he replied, with great animation, and with an ele- 
vated voice, " Ah ! dat I did, and a fiiie looking wo- 
man she was too, as any dat you will see now a- 
days."* 

He said he fought in all Queen Anne's wars, 
and was at many battles, and under many command- 
ers, but his memory fails, and he cannot remember 
their names, except the Duke of Marlborough, who 
was one of them. 

He has been much cut up by wounds, which he 
showed us, but cannot always give a very distinct 
account of his warfare. 

He came out, with his father, from England, to 
New-York, probably early in the last century, but 
cannot remember the date. 

He said, pathetically, when pressed for accounts 
of his military experience, "O, 1 was in all Queen 
Anne's war§ ; I was at Niagara, at Oswego, on the 
Ohio, (in Braddock's defeat, in 1755, where he was 
wounded.) 1 was carried prisoner to Quebec, (in 
the revolutionary war, when he must have been at 

'*' For an wnlettered man, he has very few gallic peculiaritis, 
and those the common ones, such as d for th, Sic. 



108 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

least ninety 3'ears old.) I fight in all sorts of wars, 
all my life ; I see dreadful trouble ; and den to have 
dem, we tought our friends, turn tories ; and the 
British too, and fight against ourselves, O, dat was 
de worst of all." 

He here seemed much affected, and almost too 
full for utterance. It seems, that, during the revo- 
lutionary war, he kept a tavern at Fort Edward, and 
he lamented, in a very animated manner, that the 
tories burnt his house, and barn, and four hundred 
bushels of grain ; this, his wife said, was the same 
year that Miss M'Crea was murdered. 

He has had two wives, and twenty-one children ; 
the youngest child is the daughter, in whose house 
he now lives, and she is fifty-two years old ; of 
course, he was eighty-two when she was born; they 
suppose several of the older children are still living, 
at a very advanced age, beyond the Ohio, but they 
have not heard of them for several years. The fam- 
ily were neighbors to the family of Miss M'Crea, 
and were acquainted with the circumstances of her 
tragical death. 

They said, that the lover, Mr. Jones, at first, vow- 
ed vengeance against the Indians, but* on counting 
the cost, wisely gave it up. 

Henry Francisco has been, all his life, a very ac- 
tive and energetic, although not a stout framed man. 
He was formerly fond of spirits, and did, for a cer- 
tain period, drink more than was proper, but that 
habit appears to have been long abandoned. 



T©UR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND «tUEBEC. 189 

In other respects, he has been remarkably ab- 
stemious, eating but httle, and particularly, abstain- 
ing, almost entirely, from animal food ; his favour- 
ite articles being tea, bread and butter, and baked 
apples. His wife said, that, after such a breakfast, 
he would go out and work till noon ; then dine up- 
on the same, if he could get it, and then take the 
same at night, and particularly, that he always drank 
tea, whenever he could obtain it, three cups at a 
time, three times a day. 

The old man manifested a great deal of feeling, 
and even of tenderness, which increased, as we 
treated him with respect and kindness ; he often 
shed tears, and particularly, when, on coming away, 
we gave him money; he looked up to heaven, and 
fervently thankedGod, but did not thank us ; he how- 
ever pressed our hands very warmly, wept, and wish- 
ed us every blessing, and expressed something seri- 
ous with respect to our meeting in another world. He 
appeared to have religious impressions on his mind, 
notwithstanding his pretty frequent exclamations, 
when anim ated, of Good God ! O, my God ! which 
appeared, however, not to be used in levity, and 
were probably acquired in childhood, from the al- 
most colloquial '"MonDieu," &c. ofthe French. 
The oldest people in the vicinity, remember Fran- 
cisco, as being always, from their earliest recollec- 
tion, much older than themselves; and a Mr. Fuller, 
who recently died here, between eighty and ninety 

17 



190 TOUR BETWEEN HABTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

years of age, thought Francisco was one hundred 
and forty. 

On the whole, aUhough the evidence rests, in a 
degree, on its own credibiHty, still, as many things 
corroborate it, and as his character appears remark- 
ably sincere, guileless, and affectionate, 1 am inclin- 
ned to believe, that he is as old as he is stated to 
be. He is really a most remarkable and interest- 
ing old man ; there is nothing, either in its person 
or dress, of the negligence and squalidness of ex- 
treme age, especially when not in elevated circum- 
stances; on the contrary, he is agreeable and attrac- 
tive, and were he dressed in a superior manner, and 
placed in a handsome and well furnished apartment, 
he would be a most beautiful old man. 

Little could I have expected to converse, and 
shake hands with a man, who has been a soldier in 
most of the wars of this country for one hundred 
years — who, more than a century ago, fought under 
Marlborough, in the wars of Queen Anne, and who, 
(already grown up to manhood,) saw her crowned 
One hundred and seventeen years since; who, one 
hundred and twenty-eight years ago, and in the 
century before the last, was driven from France, by 
the proud, magniticent, and inlolt^rant Louis XIV, 
and who has lived a forty-fourth part of all the time 
that the human race have occupied this globe ! 

What an interview ! It is like seeing one come 
back from the dead, to relate the events of centu- 
ries, now swallowed up in the abyss of time ! Ex- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 191 

cept his cough, which, they told us, had not been of 
Jong standing, we saw nothing in Francisco's ap- 
pearance, that might indicate a speedy dissolution, 
and he seemed to have sufficient mental and bodily 
powers, to endure for years yet to come.'^ 



PASSAGE DOWN LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

The carriage and horses were received on board 
the steam-boat at Whitehall, an accommodation 
which we had not expected ; and thus we avoided 
the inconvenience, of having them go around by 
land, to Burlington in Vermont, to wait our return 
from Canada. The steam-boat lay in a wild glon, 
immediately under a high, precipitous, rocky hill, 
and not far from the roaring outlet of Wood Creek ; 
we almost drop down upon the port, all on a sud- 
den, and it strikes one like an interesting discovery, 
in a country, so wild, and so far inland, as to present, 
in other respects, no nautical images or realities. 

We left Whitehall between two and three o'clock 
in the afternoon, in the Congress, a neat and rapid 
boat, and the only one remaining on the lake, since 
the late awful catastrophe of the Phcenix. 

The lake, for many miles, after it receives Wood 
Creek, is, in fact, nothing more, than a narrow slug- 
gish river, passing, without apparent motion, among 
high, rocky, and even mountainous ridges, between 

* He died the year after, of the fever and ague. Iii24. 



J 92 TOUR BETWEEN HARTPOHD AND QUEBEC. 

whose feet and the lake, there is, generally, a con- 
siderable extent of low, wet, marshy ground, of a 
most unpromising appearance, for any purpose, but 
to produce fever and ague, unless by and by, it 
should by dykeing and ditching, be rescued, like 
Holland, from the dominion of the water, and con- 
verted to the purposes of agriculture. 

The channel, through which we passed, is, for 
miles, so narrow, that the steamboat could scarcely 
put about in it, and there seemed hardly room for 
the passage of the little sloops, which we frequently 
met going up lo Whitehall. y\t the very head of this 
natural canal, lie moored, to the bank, stem and 
stern, the flotillas* of McDonough and Downie, 
now, by the catastrophe of battle, united into one. 
As we passed rapidly by, a few seamen showed 
Iheir heads through the grim port-holes, from which, 
five years ago, the cannon poured fire and death, 
and we caught a glimpse of the decks, that were 

* It was a great piece of self-denial to me, not to go on board 
of this flotilla, but, (a circumstance ■which I should not otherwise 
mention,) I was, all the time we were at Whitehall, and indeed 
all the way to Montreal, in a state of severe sufferin°^, from an 
ague in my face and head, which obliged me to avoid the damp 
air, and the damp meadows, where the flotillii lay, moored to the 
natural baak of the creek.* 

* When I passed this place in June 1821, these vessels were ly- 
n» a little way down the lake, mere wrecks, sunken, nej;iected 
and in ruius — scarcely seven years from the time of the fierce 
contention, by which they were lost and won. (1824. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 193 

then covered with the mutilated and the slain, and 
deluged with their generous blood. 

Sparless, black and frowning, these now disman-. 
tied ships, look like the coffins of the brave, and 
will remain, as long as worms and rot will allow 
them, sad monuments of the bloody conflict. 

Our passage down the lake presented nothing 
particularly interesting, except the grandeur of the 
double barrier of mountains, which, although much 
inferior in height to those of Lake George, are still 
very bold and commanding. 

It seems as if the lake had been poured into the 
only natural basin, of magnitude, which exists in 
this mountainous region, and as if- its boundaries 
were irrevocablj'^ fixed, by the impassable barriers 
of rocks and alpine land. 

The mountains, particularly on the eastern side, 
presenting to the eye their na4ced precipitous cliflfs, 
composed of the edges of the strata, were gneiss 
at Whitehall, and limestone as we proceed down 
the lake towards Ticonderoga. From Lake George 
to Lake Champlain, they are primitive. At White- 
hall, the rocks have a very beautiful stratification ; 
the hills appear as if cracked in two, and one part 
being removed, we have a fine vertical section ; 
both their horizontal and perpendicular divisions, 
resemble a regular piece of masonry, and this is 
the prevailing fact, as we pass down the lake. 

The dip of these strata of gneiss, which is to the east, 
is very moderate, not exceeding a few degrees, and 

17* 



194 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

this appeared to be the general fact. On our ride 
from Fort Aane to Whitehall, the road passed down 
one of the natural declivities, formed by the dip of 
the rock ; for several hundred feet, in the direction 
of the road, the carriage rattled over this perfect- 
ly naked and smooth natural pavement. I had, to- 
day, no opportunity to land, to inspect the rocks, 
but, as the boat often passed very near the cliffs, 
sometimes within a few yards, I was sufficiently 
satisfied, concerning their general nature. 

During our passage of twenty-five miles, to Ti- 
conderoga, we had a fine descending sun, shining in 
full strength, upon the bold scenery of the lake, and 
that I might enjoy it, undisturbed by the bustle of 
a crowded deck, I took my seat in the carriage, 
where I was protected equally from the fumes of 
the boat, and the chill of the air, and could, at my 
leisure, catch every variety of images, and all fhe 
changes of scenery, that were passing before me. 
It was with very great regret, that I found we could 
not stop, even for a moment, at Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point; and it was not till 1 had devised and 
dismissed several abortive plans for leaving the boat 
and getting on afterwards, or in some other way, 
that 1 subntitted to pass these interesting places. 

The sun, setting in splendor, shot his last beams 
over Mount Defiance, as we came in sight of it, and 
the commmencing twilight, softened by the first ap- 
proaches of evening, which was not yet so far ad- 



TOUR BETWEEN UARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 195 

vanced, as to throw objects into obscurity, cast a 
pensive veil over the site and ruins of 



TICONDEROGA. 

The remains of this celebrated fortress, once so 
highly important, but no longer, an object either of 
hope or fear, are still considerably conspicuous. As 
we came up with, and, from the narrowness of the 
lake, necessarily passed very near them, I wasgrati- 
fied, as much as I could be, without landing, by a 
view of their ruins, still imposing in their appear- 
ance, and possessing, with all their associations, a 
high degree of heroic grandeur. 

They stand on a tongue of land, of considerable 
elevation, projecting south, between Lake Cham- 
plain, which winds around and passes on the east, 
and the passage into Lake George, which is on the 
west. 

The remains of the old works are still conspicu- 
ous, and the old stone barracks, erected by the 
French, are in part standing. 

This fort was built by the French ; and Lord 
Howe, and many other gallant men, lost their lives 
in the enterprize against it in 1758. 

From this fortress, issued many of those fero- 
cious incursions of French and Indians, which for- 
merly distressed the English settlements ; and its 
fall, in 1759, (when, on the approach of General 



196 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Amherst with a powerful army, it was abandoned 
by the French, without fighting,) filled the northern 
colonies with joy. 

In 1777, great hopes were reposed upon this for- 
tress, as a barrier against invasion ; it was regarded 
as beingemphatically the strong hold of the North ; 
and when General Burgoyne, with astonishing ef- 
fort, dragged cannon up the precipices of Mount 
Defiance, and showed them on its summit, Ticonde- 
roga, no longer tenable, was precipitately aban- 
doned. 

Mount Defiance stands on the outlet of Lake 
George, and between that and Lake Champlain, 
and most completely commands Ticonderoga, which 
is far below, and within fair cannon shot. On the 
slightest glance at the scene, it is a matter of utter 
astonishmet)t, even to one who is not a military 
man, how so important a point came to be over- 
looked by all preceding commanders : probably it 
arose from the belief, which ought not to have been 
admitted till the experiment had been tried, that it 
was impossible to convey cannon to its summit.* — 
On the right is Mount Independence, where there 
was a formidable fort at the time of General Bur- 
goyne's invasion. 

The shadows of the night were descending ou 
the venerable Ticonderoga, as we left it; and when 

* It appears, that the Americans held a council of war, in which 
it was debated whether they should occupy Mount Defiance, but 
as they had not men enough to man the existing works, the thing 
was never attempted. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 197 

I looked upon its walls and environs, so long and so 
often clustering witharmies — formidable for so great 
a length of time in all the apparatus and prepara- 
tions of war, and the object of so many campaigns 
and battles ; but now, exhibiting only a solitary 
smoke, curling from a stone chimney in its half- 
fallen barracks, with not one animated being in sight; 
while its massy ruins, and the beautiful green de- 
clivities, sloping on all sides to the water, were still 
and motionless as death, 1 felt indeed that I was be- 
holdinga striking emblem of the mutability of power, 
and of the fluctuations of empire. Ticonderoga, no 
longer within the confines of a hostile country — no 
longer a rallying point for ferocious savages and 
for formidable armies — no more a barrier against 
invasion, or an object of seige or assault, has now 
become only a pasture for cattle. 

At Ticonderoga, the lake takes a sudden but 
short (urn to the right, and forms a small bay, with 
Mount Defiance on the left, Mount Independence 
on the right, and Ticonderoga in front. This scene 
is very fine, and the whole outline of the spot — the 
mountains near, and the mountains at a distance — 
the shores — the bay-'— and the ruins, all unite to 
make a very grand landscape. 

Night was upon us, before we were up with 
Crown Point, that other scarcely less celebrated, or 
less important fortress. The moon served only to 
enable mc dimly to see undefined masses of stone 



198 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

« 

and earth, as a bystander observed, " there are the 
ruins of Crown Point !" 

Almost every thing that has been said historical- 
ly of Ticonderoga, is applicable to Crown Point, 
only there has not been much blood shed before its 
walls. This fortress also, was built by the French; 
it was equally annoying to the English Colonies as 
Ticonderoga ; its reduction was as ardently desired, 
and as many campaigns were undertaken for this 
purpose. Like Ticonderoga, it was retained by 
the French till 1759, when it was quietly abandon- 
ed by them, and Lord Amherst, on taking posses- 
sion of it, built an entire new fortress of stone, and 
made it much more formidable than before. 



* 



The next season but one after the above re- 
marks were written, I enjoyed the opportunity 
which I had long desired of examining the ruins of 
Ticonderoga. Mr. S. F. B. Morse and myself af- 
ter having proceeded (as already mentioned,) by 
water from the head of Lake George to its outlet, 
landed at the village of Ticonderoga, and proceed- 
ed to view the interesting objects of the peninsula. 
The first thing that will strike the traveller, is a 
fine cascade produced by the waters of Lake 
George rushing down the ledges of rock which form 
the barrier between it and lake Champlain. The 
difference of level between the two lakes is vari- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 199 

ously stated by different authors. Worcester's Ga- 
zetteer, and Morses Geography (the Edition of 
1822,) place it at about 100 (eet. As the waters 
of Lake George perform the greater part of this 
descent, within a very short distance, they form a 
very fine cataract, and at the same time furnish am- 
ple water power for mills and manufactories, se- 
veral of which are established upon the bank. The 
village of Ticonderoga is uninteresting ; but it will 
furnish the traveller with a waggon and a guide for 
the purpose of exploring the peninsula. The voy- 
ager on Lake George will of course carry with him, 
interesting recollections of its military history, and 
especially of the ill-fated expedition of General 
Abercrombie whose departure from the head of the 
Lake, I have already mentioned. 

" On the fifth of July, 1758, the whole army ex- 
cept a reserve, left for the protection of this spot, 
embarked in a thousand and thirty five boats with 
all the splendour of military parade. The morn- 
ing was remarkably bright and beautiful, and the 
fleet moved with exact regularity to the sound of 
fine martial music. The ensigns waved and glit- 
tered in the sun-beams : and the anticipation 
of future triumph shone in every eye. Above, be- 
neath, around, the scenery was that of enchant- 
ment, and rarely has the sun, since that luminary 
was first lighted up in the heavens, dawned on such 
a complication of beauty and magnificence."* 

* President Dwights travels Vol, 8 pp. 381-2. 



200 TOUK BETWEEN HAKTFOKD AND QUEBEC. 

Next morning July the 6th, this fine army, by far 
the finest that had then been assembled in America, 
having disembarked at the outlet of Lake George, 
began its march in four columns for the fort of Ti- 
conderoga, distant only three miles. The country 
was in deep forest and the guides being unskilful, 
the army fell into confusion. At that moment the 
right centre column, led on by Lord Howe, fell in 
with the enemy's advance guard which was retreat- 
ing towards Ticonderoga. — This party also had lost 
its way in the woods, but they attacked the Eng- 
lish, and at the first fire Lord Howe,* the pride and 
hope of the army fell.f The provincial iroops, 
however, accustomed to this species of warfare, re- 
pelled the attack and destroyed the party, consist- 
ing of nearly five hundred. 

It can n3ver be sufficiently regretted that meas- 
ures had not been taken to transport a few cannon 
to the top of Mount Defiance, a measure which 
General Burgoyne, nineteen years afterwards, pro- 
ved to be perfectly practicable, for then Ticondero- 
ga would have surrendered without firing a gun, 
and the disgraceful and bloody tragedy would have 
been prevented. At least, cannon should have been 
brought to attack the lines. But Gen. Abercrom- 
bie, who docs not appear ever to have seen the 

'''Lord Howe fell at a distance from the shore of the Lake — Gen- 
eral Hoy t informs me that he has very nearly ascertained the 
exact spot. 

+ Doct. Dwijht's travels. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 201 

French lines and relying upon the report of his en- 
gineers that the works could be carried by assault, 
gave orders for the army to advance immediately 
to the attack. As we advanced from the mills over 
the same ground still covered (as it was then) 
in 2 great measure by wood, we descried the 
lines, still in fine preservation, running quite across 
the peninsula, and winding down its shores on both 
sides, making a circuit of 3-4 of a mile, we were 
forcibly struck with the madness of the attempt. 
The parapet, especially in the front of the work, 
where the principal assault was made, is still tena- 
ble, and would at this moment, without repair, form 
a better defence than the Americans enjoyed at 
Bunker's Hill. The ditch is even now very deep — 
[ descended into it and found that the parapet was 
higher than Ihe top of my head, so that 1 can readi- 
ly believe that it was originally, as stated by histo- 
rians, eight or nine feet high.* In front of this 
work, the trees were felled so as to interweave their 
branches, and present their points (sharpened by 
axes) in every dir(!C(ion, so as to form the most im- 
penetrable abattis. The assailants had no cannon and 
marched up in solid columns, fully exposed to the 
tremendous fire of their enemy, both from small 

* Doct. Dwight (travels, p. 383,) remarks that when he saw 
the lines, they were not more than four feet hig:h, and expresses a 
tloubl whether they wore ever more than six— this is true of the 
wings— But in front where, alone the attack was made, their ap- 
pearance was still very formidable. 

18 



202 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

arms and artillery, while the enemy was per- 
fectly secure withi n their entrenchments, and scarce- 
ly sustained any loss during four hours that the at- 
tack was sustained. The English and Provincials, 
entangled in the fatal abattis, presented a sure mark 
for the deliberate aim of the enemy, and poured 
their generous blood like water upon the ground, 
while the greater part of the army, from the nar- 
rowness of the point of attack, were necessarily in- 
active, and their General at, the distance of two 
miles, was ignorant in a great measure of their sit- 
uation, and neglected to give the order for retreat, 
till nearly two thousand of his finest troops, had 
fallen either with wounds or in death. Several 
times, did small parties of the highlanders mount 
the works, but they were slaughtered or repelled 
before they could receive any adequate assistance. 
No attack was made upon the wings where the 
works were the weakest, nor did the General avail 
himself of his great numerical superiority (for the 
enemy had not over three thousand men, and ac- 
cording to some accounts not above half that num- 
ber,) to assault all parts of the works, at once when 
there can be little doubt, that the assailants would 
have been at some point successful. —As the attack 
was conducted, it was a scene of mere slaughter, 
worse than the affair of Bunker's Hill or Montmo- 
renci, and as bad as that of New-Orleans.* 

*The army,after this battle, retreated precipitately to the head 
of Lake George, and the retreat was even more disgraceful, than 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 203 

After entering the old French lines, which are 
nearly half a mile distant from the fort of Ticonde- 
roga, we come to a fine parade ground sufficient for 
the evolutions of many thousands. It slopes gently 
to the south, and terminates at the walls of Ti- 
conderoga, the ancient fortress erected by the 
French. This fortress, although in ruins, is well 
worthy of being visited by every traveller. After 
all the dilapidations of time and of man, Ticonde- 
roga, with its mutilated walls and barracks, and 
with its picturesque environs, presents one of the fin- 
est ruins in America. Happily the garrison ground, 
constituting a farm of about six hundred acres, and 
including the old French lines, as well as the forts 
and barracks, has fallen into the hands of a gentle- 
man,* whose good sense and just taste will not per- 
mit a stone to be removed. — This scene, fine in its 
natural beauty and grandeur, and still finer in its 
historical associations, may therefore go down to 
posterity without further mutilation. The rock of 
which the walls and barracks of Ticonderoga are 
built, is a black fetid compact limestone. It 
abounds in this region, and constitutes the ledges on 
the shores of the contiguous part of Vermont. Its 
stratification is nearly horizontal, and it is filled 
with organized remains, corallines, bivalves, he. — 
At New Shoreham, which is immediately opposite 

the previous battle. Full 14,000 effective men still remained, 
and it was still entirely within Ihe power of this army to have re- 
duced Ticonderoga even without another struggle. 

* Mr. Pell, of New-York. 



204 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

toTiconderoga, they informed us that the water of 
wells du^ in this limestone is offensive, and unfit 
for use. Hence the inhabitants use the water of 
the lake, and they provide ice houses, that the wa- 
ter may, in warm weather, be rendered agreeably 
cool. 

The walls, the barracks, the subterraneous mag- 
azines, the kitchens and store rooms, the covered 
ways and advanced works of Ttconderoga are of sol 
id masonry. When this fortress was precipitately 
abandoned in the Revolutionary war, by the army 
under Gen. St. Clair, it was blown up and set on 
fire. The explosion removed the roof and over- 
threw a partof the walls of the barracks; but enough 
remains to give one a perfect idea of the structure, 
and to form a ruin well worthy of the pencil. The 
half burnt timbers still remain in the walls, and 
the subterraneous structures as well as the proper 
walls of the fort have escaped with little injury 
from the hand of violence and of time. The south 
gate of the fort, is the one at which Gen. Arnold 
entered, when he surprised the British garrison at 
the commencement of the American war. The 
Grenadier's battery, as it is still called, is at the 
southern point of the peninsula at the water's edge, 
and is terminated by perpendicular cliffs of lime- 
stone rock. On the shore at the landing place is 
one of the old stone store-houses which is now 
used as a tavern. On the continent, on the oppo- 
site side of the lake, are the remains of the fort ou 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 205 

Mount Independence, to which the nnain body of 
the American army retreated in July, 1777, when 
pursued by Gen. Burgoyne. 



A NIGHT ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 

The recent loss of the Phoenix, and the tragical 
events by which it was accompanied, might well 
have caused us some anxiety, in the prospect of a 
night passage on the lake ; but the weather was fine 
and the water smooth, and we had a good boat, 
furnished with a gentleman's cabin on deck. As 
1 was, however, scarcely able to sleep at all, I 
passed most of the night in the carriage, both 
as being a pleasant situation, and as affording me 
some opportunity of observing the fire, the man- 
agement of which I was willing enough to see. I 
am sorry to say, that I was disappointed in not ob- 
serving that anxious vigilance, which, after the late 
dreadful occurrence, we should naturally expect to 
find. Large piles of pine wood, \ery dry, of 
course, and also very hot, from their being placed 
near the furnace and boilers, occupied the middle 
of the vessel. A candle was placed by one of the 
people on a projecting end of a stick of this wood. 
It had burned nearly down, and a fresh north wind 
blew the flame directly towards, and almost against 
the pine slivers, which were very dry and full of 

18* 



206 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOKD AND QUEKEC, 

turpentine, and therefore in a condition to catch 
fire with the greatest ease. Happily, from the 
contiguous carriage window, Mr, W observ- 
ed this threatening candle, and after some impor- 
tunity with the people, (who seemed very indiffe- 
rent to the danger,) succeeded in having it removed. 
It might, very naturally, have caused the Congress 
to share the fate of the Phoenix, which was burnt, 
by a candle placed in a situation of less apparent 
danger ; that is, near a shelf in a closet, where it 
communicated fire to the board.* 

We found one other unpleasant circumstance: 
the boat stopped several times, at different places, 
on the two shores of the lake, to deliver and re- 
ceive freight, and our captain being extremely dila- 
tory, we were delayed one and two hours at a 
place. 



■ SCENERY, PLATTSBURGH,&c. 

At three o'clock in t)ie morning, we stopped at 
Burlington, and left the carriage and horses with 
the young man to take care of them, till our return 
from Canada. It was day-light before we left this 
place, and the morning presented a scene so simi- 

* On our return, we found the Congress under a new captain, 
and a much more strict police, which left no farther room to 
complain of negligence. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 207 

lar to Long-Island Sound, that we could hardly 
persuade ourselves that we were on fresh water. 
Although the weather was fair, and we could see 
the most distant shores, the high mountains were 
hardly distinguishable, being shrouded in vapor. 

Early in the forenoon, we were in Plattsburgh 
Bay, and passed over the scene of Commodore 
McDonough's brilliant victory ; an event singular- 
ly decisive in its circumstances, momentous in its 
results, and honorable in the highest degree to that 
able and gallant commander. 

At this memorable place, (the only one since we 
left Ticonderoga and Crown Point, where a long 
delay would have been grateful,) we had time only 
(o walk a little way towards the village, and to visit 
one of the batteries, signalized in September, 1814, 
in repelling the enemy from the passage of the 
Saranac. Dr. L. Foot,* of the army, caused the 
little time we had to spend, to pass both agreeably 
and usefully; but we were soon again underway, 
and doubling Cumberland Head, round which the 
brave but unfortunate Commodore Downie sailed, 
to defeat and death, we left the beautiful Bay of 
Plattsburgh, with all its grand and interesting asso- 
ciations. 

* A friend, and for several years a pupil. 



20S TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

ENTRANCE INTO CANADA. 

Our passage down the remainder of the lake was 
very rapid, and we soon arrived at the American 
custom-house; the boat was visited, but our bag- 
gage was not examined, and we were treated with 
the greatest civility. 

This ceremony, (for it was a ceremony, merely,) 
being over, we were very soon abreast of the great 
stone castle, resembling that on Governor's Island, 
at New-York. It was erected by the American 
government, on Rouse's Point, upon the western 
side of the entrance into the river Sorel or Riche- 
lieu, and was designed to command the communi- 
cation between that river and Lake Champlain. 
In consequence of a late determination that the 
boundary line (the 45th degree of latitude,) passes 
a little south of this castle, it now falls to the Brit- 
ish government. 

The current favored our progress, and we push- 
ed on very impetuously through the quiet waters 
of this very considerable river, whose smooth sur- 
face was thrown into waves by our rapid course. 
The country, on both sides, is the most uninterest- 
ing that can well be imagined. It is a low wet 
swamp, not redeemed, like Holland, but, to a con- 
siderable extent, too much covered by water to 
admit of imriiediate cultivation. A few patches of 
clear and dry land, and a few poor hamlets, appear 
here and there, but there is no village worth men- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 209 

tioning, in the whole distance oftwentj miles to St. 
John's. The land appears to the eye as if it were 
even lower than the water, and we naturally think 
of fevers and of agues, which, however, are said to 
be of rare occurrence, and are probably prevented 
by a temperate climate. At some future day, should 
this country become populous, this low marshy land, 
which is probably fertile, may be rescued from the 
water, by the same means which have caused such 
scenes of richness and beauty to be exhibited in 
Holland. 

The only very interesting object in the river, is 
the Isleaux Noix, eleven miles from the frontier, 
and eight or nine from St. John's. The glitter of 
arms — the splendor of the British uniform — the im- 
posing appearance of ramparts and cannon — the 
beauty of the log barracks of the officers, painted 
in stripes — and the bustle of military activity, of 
course excited a degree of interest, and afforded an 
agreeable relief from the dull scenes of forests and 
swamps. 

The Isle aux Noix, is important in time of war, 
as being the frontier British post, and has been, 
many times, a point of rendezvous for armies and 
flotillas, not only for the invaders, but for the de- 
fenders of Canada. 

We both left and received passengers at this isl- 
and, but without going ourselves on shore, and less 
than one hour from the time we left it brought us 
to the wharf at St. John's, in Lower Canada ; we 



210 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND q,UEBEC. 

arrived before night on the 30th of September, ten 
days from our leaving Hartford.* 



ST. JOHNS, AND DEPARTURE FOR MONTREAL. 

St' John's. — I scarcely saw any thing more of 
this little town, than what might be observed in 
passing to the inn, where we found attention and 
kindness, but a house so crowded that we were very 
willing to leave it on our way to Montreal. 

We did not go, with most of our steam boat com- 
panions in the stage, which went on in the night, to 
La Prairie, but the next morning were furnished 
with an extra conveyance, in which we proceeded 
on our journey. There aregoodstagesat St. John's, 
exactly like the most common kind of American 
stage coaches, or rather stage waggons, and they 
are furnished with good horses. Indeed, we were 
informed that these establishments were set up by 
Americans, whose enterprize and activity are re- 
markably contrasted with the unvarying habits of 
the native Canadians. 

The private carriage in which we travelled, was 
an old fashioned hack, such as might have been 
seen in American towns twenty or twenty-five years 
ago; the canvass curtains, (without windows,) were 
torn, had few or no strings to secure them in place, 

* Such is the expedition of the public vehicles, that this dis- 
tance may be travelled in three days. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 21 1 

and flapping in a brisk head wind, they served to 
let in rather than to exclude the cold air, and very 
imperfectly screened us from a driving rain. Our 
coachman was a Vermont lad, who had emigrated 
in childhood, along with his parents, but he had not 
caught the Canadian tardiness of movement, for he 
drove us at a great rate, over a road very level, but 
by no means smooth ; we were, however, willing 
to bear pretty severe jolting, for the sake of expe- 
dition. 

We had an interesting ride of twelve miles, on 
the left bank of the Sorel river, which murmured 
along by our side, and were charmed with the com- 
fortable white cottages, constructed very neatly of 
hewn logs, and forming apparently dry and warm 
dwellings. Almost every moment we met the cheer- 
ful looking peasants, driving their little carts, (char- 
rettes,) drawn by horses of a diminutive size. The 
men were generally standing up in the body of the 
cart, with their lighted pipes in their mouths, and 
wore red or blue sashes, and long conical woollen 
caps, of various colors. These carts were furnished 
with high rails, and occasionally with seats, occupi- 
ed by females and children ; they appeared (like our 
one horse waggons,) to furnish the most common 
accommodation for transporting both commodities 
and persons. 

We gave our horses a few moments of rest at 
Chambly, but were prevented by the rain front 
leaving our inn. I regretted this, however, the less, 



212 TOUK BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

as we expected to return through the same place, 
and might be more favorably situated. 

We lost no time in resuming our journey, and 
drove, in less than three hours to Longueil, through 
a perfectly level country, well cultivated, fertile, 
considerably populous, and furnished with very 
neat and comfortable white houses, constructed of 
hewn logs, like those on the Sorel river. The 
barns, frequently of a large size, were usually built 
in the same manner ; but the want of good frame 
work was very obvious in their frequently distorted 
appearance. 



FIRST GLIMPSE OF MONTREAL. 

At the village of Longueil, or a little before ar- 
riving there, we caught the first view of Montreal. 
The first impression of this city is very pleasing. 
In its turrets and steeples, glittering with tin ; in its 
thickly built streets, stretching between one and 
two miles along the river, and rising gently from it ; 
in its environs, ornamented with country houses 
and green fields; in the noble expanse of the St. 
Lawrence, sprinkled with islands ; in its foaming 
and noisy rapids; and in the bold ridge of the 
mountain, which forms the back ground of the city, 
we recognize all the features necessary to a rich 
and magnificent landscape, and perceive among 
these indications, decisive proofs of a flourishing 
inland emporium. 



rOUH BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qilEREC. 213 

PASSAGE OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. 

11" we experienced some elevation of feeling at 
the first view of the St. Lawrence, we were not 
likely to have our pride cherished by the means 
which conveyed us over this mighty river. Two 
Canadian boatmen ferried us over in a canoe, hol- 
lowed out of a single log. Our baggage being duly 
placed, we were desired to sit, face to face, on 
some clean straw, placed on boards, which lay 
across the bottom of the boat: we were situated 
thus low, that our weight might not disturb the 
balance of the canoe, and we were requested to 
sit perfectly still. Our passage was to be nearly 
three miles obliquely up the stream, and a part of 
the way against some powerful rapids. 

Between us and Montreal, considerably up the 
river, lay the brilliant island of St. Helena. It 
is elevated, commands a fine view of the city, is 
strongly marked by entrenchments, is fertile, and 
covered in part with fine timber. It is a domain, 
and we were much struck with the beautiful situa- 
tion of the house on the south side of the island, be- 
longing to the Baroness Lonqueil. With the island 

and river, it would form a fine subject for a pic- 
ture. 

Our boatmen conveyed us, without much diffi- 
culty, to the southern point of this island, between 
which, and the city, owing to the compression of 
the river by the island, a powerful rapid rushes 

19 



214 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

along, with much agitation, and a current, which it 
is very difficult to stem. At the point of the isl- 

^ and, particularly, a branch of the river, confined 
by rocks, dashes along, almost with the rapidity of 
water bursting from a flood gate. Through this 

■ strait it was necessary to pass, and, for some time, 
the boat went back, and even after landing us on 
the island, the canoe was coming around, broadside 
to the current, when we were apprehensive that 
our baggage must be thrown into the river ; but, by 
main strength, they pushed the boat through this 
torrent, and along the shore of the island, till the 
rapid became so moderate, that they ventured again 
to take UP in, and push for the city. It took these 
poor fellows a toilsome hour to convey us over, 
and they demanded but a pittance for their ser- 
vices. 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MONTREAL. 

We mounted a steep slippery bank, from the 
river, and found ourselves in one of the principal 
streets of the city. It required no powerful effort 
of the imagination, to conceive that we were arri- 
ved in Europe. A town, compactly built of stone, 
without wood or brick, indicating permanency, and 
even a degree of antiquity, presenting some hand- 
some public and private buildings, an active and nu- 
merous population, saluting the ear with two Ian- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 215 

guages, but principally with the French — every 
thing seems foreign, and we easily feel that we are 
a great way from home. 



ACCOMMODATIONS OF A PUBLIC HOUSE. 

We were no sooner ushered into the mansion- 
house,* a vast building, constructed of hewn stone, 
than we could easily imagine ourselves in one of 
the principal coffee-houses of London. Assiduity, 
quiet, and, in a word, domestic comfort, in every 
particular, except the absence of the family circle, 
were at once in our possession. 

The master of the house was an Englishman, 
and, having been brought up in a London coffee- 
house, he very naturally transferred all that is desi- 
rable and comfortable, in the habits of those estab- 
lishments, to his own, in Montreal. 

Being worn out with suffering, from the cause 
which I mentioned at Whitehall, I was obliged to 
betake myself immediately to my room and bed ; 
but I was not permitted to feel that I was a stran- 
ger; so prompt were the attentions, and so appro- 
priate the various little comforts and refreshments, 
that were provided and administered. 

The next morning, having obtained complete re- 
lief, from what I had not expected, superior surgical 

* Since destroyed by fire. 



216 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORB AiVD QUEBEC. 

skill,* I was enabled to begin to enjoy, as well as to 
see the new objects around me. 



MANNERS OF THE GUESTS. 

Dinner here, is at five o'clock; soup was ready, 
however, at almost any previous hour, and we par- 
took of this refreshment, not having been recently 
accustomed to so late an hour for dinner. We 
found at table, a small party of very respectable 
men, apparently Englishmen ; and we were partic- 
ularly and agreeably struck, with the gentlemanly 
manners of every individual at table, where, al- 
though the guests were strangers to us, and proba- 
bly most of them to each other, all were polite, 
attentive, and sociable, without that selfish indiffe- 
rence, or rude familiarity, so common at some public 
tables, where a correct medium seems hardly to be 
understood. 

The manners of this circle were particularly con- 
trasted with those of a certain group, which we had 
encountered during our tour, and from which it was 
impossible, at the time, to make our escape. They 
were noisy, drinking, swearing, card-playing geniJe- 
men; and of all ages, from twenty to sixty, but in 
their manners so alike, that youth and age were 
fitly associated. 

* In a mode suflEiciently curious and original, which ] shall 
mention further on. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 217 

We began, at evening, to receive the calls of 
those to whom we had letters, particularly of some 
of our own countrymen, and obtained at once, all 
the local information which we needed, to direct 
our immediate movements, and to enable us to form 
and mature our plans. 



EVENING SCENES ON THE ST. LAWRENCE. 

The weather being mild and fine, parlor fires 
were not yet kindled in Canada, but, as we prefer- 
red a fire for ourselves, we retired at evening into a 
very large and well furnished room, with a bow 
end, and overlooking a terrace, thirty feet wide, and 
one hundred and forty-four long, which is the 
length of the house. This terrace is thirty feet 
above the river, immediately on its brink, and com- 
mands a view of it, for many miles up and down the 
stream, and of the country on the other shore, thus 
presenting a most delightful prospect. This room 
was our parlor, while we remained in the house, 
and we were particularly fond of viewing from its 
windows, and from the terrace below, the fine scenes 
of twilight and evening, on the St Lawrence. 

We had anticipated some inconvenience, in visit- 
ing Canada, so late in the season, on account of the 
shortness of the days ; but the long and bright twi- 
light, both at morning and evening, made us ample 

19* 



218 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

amends, and we found as much light as we left be- 
hind us, although less of sunshine. At half after 
five, with the sun down, and the moon at the full, in 
the firmament, we sit at the dinner table, apparently 
in broad day light. 

From the moment the sun is down, every thing 
becomes silent on the shore, which our windows 
overlook, and the murmurs of the broad St. Law- 
rence, more than two miles wide, immediately be- 
fore us and a little way to the right, spreading to 
five or six miles in breadth, are, sometimes for an 
hour, the only sounds that arrest our attention. Ev- 
ery evening since we have been here, black clouds 
and splendid moonlight have hung over, and embel- 
lished this tranquil scene ; and, on two of those 
evenings we have been attracted to the window, by 
the plaintive Canadian boat song. In one instance, 
it arose from a solitary voyager, floating in his light 
canoe, which occasionally appeared and disappear- 
ed on the sparkling river ; and, in its distant course 
seemed no larger than some sportive insect. In 
another instance, a larger boat, with more nume- 
rous, and less melodious voices, not indeed in per- 
fect harmony passed nearer to the shore, and gave 
additional life to the scene. A few moments after, 
the moon broke out from a throne of dark clouds, 
and seemed to convert the whole expanse of water 
into one vast sheet of glittering silver, and, in the 
very brightest spot, at the distance of more than a 
mile, again appeared a solitary boat, but too dis- 



TOWR. BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 2J9 

tant to admit of our hearing the song, with which 
the boatman was probably solacing his lonely 
course. 



DAY SCENES ON THE ST. LAWRENCE. 

The mere contemplation of a river, presenting 
such a broad expanse of water, at the distance of 
five hundred miles from the ocean, is interesting and 
pleasing. At this season it is a tranquil scene, but 
the river presents very considerable diversity. On 
our right, it spreads into a broad lake, generally 
smooth, but, in numbers of places, it is ruffled by 
rapids, and broken by ledges of rocks ; on the left, 
it runs with great rapidity, between the island of St. 
Helena and the city, and presents, at all times, a 
lively and magnificent water course. 

Occasionally, sloops, ships and steam boats are 
seen on the river, either passing rapidly down, or 
struggling against the current; but the most com- 
mon craft of the river is of every size, from a small 
canoe, to the largest boats that are built without 
decks. 

The margin of the river, adjoining the city, is, at 
most places where there are no wharves, lined with 
floating rafts, and separate logs, intended both for 
fuel and for timber. 

A scene of considerable activity is exhibited im- 



220 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

mediately before our terrace, by the carts and hor- 
ses, which are driven into the river, as far as is ne- 
cessary, and frequently till the horses can hardly 
keep their feet ; the object is to obtain the wood, 
which is thus conveniently loaded, as the body of 
the cart is as low as the surface of the river ; and 
single sticks, too large for the carts, are drawn out 
separately by the horses. The carts are also used 
for the conveyance of water casks, to supply the 
city ; the horses are driven into the water, and the 
casks are filled, very conveniently, without remov- 
ing them from the cart. 

We frequently observed, on the Sorel river, the 
French women, washing at the river's edge. The 
same employment is seen here before our windows. 
Sometimes the clothes are placed on boards, in the 
river, and pounded ; and, at other times, the women 
dance on them, dashing the water about like ducks, 
and seemingly as much for frolic as for work. All 
these employments are attended with much vocife- 
ration, and contribute to give life and interest to the 
quiet scenes of a great inland water. 

Some of the circumstances which I have just 
mentioned, are, it is true, trivial, but still, they tend 
to characterise tlie country and its inhabitants. 



PASSAGE TO QUEBEC. 

I purposely omit to make any other remarks on 
Montreal, till our return from Quebec, when we ex- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 221 

pect to pass several days more in this city, and the 
observations of both residences may be so blended, 
as, in a good degree, to avoid repetition. 

We remained in Montreal three days and a half, 
and went on board the steam-boat to lodge, on the 
night of the fourth. We lay quietly at the wharf 
till one o'clock, in the morning of the fifth ; and whea 
day light was fully disclosed, we had passed many 
miles down the river, and were impelled rapidly 
forward, by the united force of steam and current. 
The weather, which, the day before, had been cold, 
became delightful, with a mild soft air, and a bril- 
liant sun. Nothing, for a tame scene, could be finer 
than the one which surrounded us after sun rise. 
The flat shores are every where studded with white- 
washed cottages, appearing, (like those which we 
had seen when travelling by land,) to be all warm 
and comfortable ; and, at the distance of every two 
or three miles, appeared a little snowy village, with 
its glittering tin spire ; if it included a house, a little 
superior to the cottage, that was also covered with 
the same material. 



TOWN OF SOREL. 



Early in the forenoon, we were at the town of 
Sorel, at the mouth of the river of the same name. 
This is the point of communication between Lake 



222 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Champlaln and the St. Lawrence, and is, of course, 
a station very important to the countries on these 
great waters. 

At this place we were detained an hour to take 
in wood, which is here, as in the United States, drj 
pine. The shore is so bold, that the boat lies at 
the bank, and this is so high, that the wood was 
thrown down upon the deck with a good deal of 
violence, so as to endanger, and actually to break, 
Sonne of the glass in the sky-lights. 

We went on shore, and walked through the 
principal streets of the town. 

The town of Sorel, or, (as it is sometimes called,^ 
William Henry, stands " on the site of a fort, built 
in the year 1665, by order of Mons. de Tracy ;" it 
was intended as a defence against the incursions of 
the Indians, and received its name of Sorel, from a 
captain of engineers, who superintended its con- 
struction. 

The present town was begun about the year 1 785, 
by some loyalists and disbanded soldiers, and it 
continues to be the residence of many old military 
pensioners. 

Although the plan of the town occupies about 
one hundred and twenty acres, the number of hous- 
es does not much exceed one hundred and fifty, 
exclusive of stores, barracks, and government 
l>uildings. 

The plan is regular, and the streets intersect at 
fight augles, leaving a central square, of more than 



y 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 223 

five hundred feet' on a side.* The town is built 
principally of wood, and the aspect of many of the 
buildings is more like that of an Anglo-American 
town, than any thing that we have seen in Canada. 
The population is about fifteen hundred. The 
churches are of stone. We visited that of the Cath- 
olics, which is somewhat ornamented with pictures, 
but cannot be considered as particularly handsome. 
We found people at their devotions, and a priest 
in attendance. 

Sorel was occupied by General Thomas, in May, 
1776, with the greater part of the American army, 
on their retreat from before Quebec. Here Gen- 
eral Thomas died of the small pox. 

The river Sorel is two hundred and fifty yards 
broad, opposite to the town, but it presents a singu- 
lar example of a river, much narrower at its em- 
bouchure, than at its origin; it is more than four 
times as wide at St. John's, as at Sorel, and contin- 
ues to widen all the way up the stream, to the Lake 
Champlain; from St. John's, there is also a ship 
navigation into the lake; but, from the town of So- 
rel, vessels of one hundred and fifty tons ascend 
only twelve or fourteen miles, f 

From the town of Sorel, we proceeded among a 
great many islands, and, after passing a few miles, 
entered that great expanse of the river, which is 
ten miles wide, and twenty miles long, and is called 
the lake of St. Peter. It has, indeed, a very great 

* Bouchette + Bouchette. 



224 TOUR BETU'EEI* HARTFORD AN'R t^UEIiEC. 

resemblance to a lake, being smooth, and without 
apparent motion. 

We felt, as we had done in Lake Champlain, that 
this must be Long-Island Sound, and here, indeed, 
the resemblance is much greater, as the water is 
green, like the ocean. The water is, of course, 
shallow, and some caution is necessary, to avoid 
running aground. The shores are very flat and 
swampy, and, in a hot climate, would probably be 
sickly. 

At the large town of Three Rivers, where we 
arrived by three o'clock in the afternoon, and which 
is half way between Montreal and Quebec, we 
stopped in the stream a few minutes, to take in 
passengers. There were some ships lying at this 
place, but there is no harbor, other than the stream, 
nor did I observe any accommodations for ships, 
except the naked banks of the river. This town is 
the third in the province, but very far behind the 
other two ; it contains about three hundred and 
twenty houses, and two thousand, five hundred in- 
habitants ; it extends about one thousand, three 
hundred yards along the river, and was founded in 
1618* 

Proceeding down the river, we continued to en- 
joy a delightful day's sail, with a perfect Indian 

summer. Mr. W and myself had a large state 

room to ourselves, where we could retire in per- 
fect seclusion, whenever we did not choose to be 

* Bouchette. 



TOUK BETWEEN HARTKOKi) AND QUEBEC. 223 

among the passengers, who, however, were few and 
civil, and, as the boat was very large, we had none 
of the inconveniences of a crowd. I occupied a 
good deal of the day in writing, as the scenery had 
a very great degree of sameness, and from the win- 
dows I could catch a glimpse of its changes, so as to 
go seasonably on deck, and not to lose any impor- 
tant object. 

Towards evening, when we were just above the 
Richelieu Rapids, and the surface of the river ex- 
tremely smooth, the captain pointed out a large 
seal, sleeping on the water, at the distance of per- 
haps two or three hundred yards. He fired at it 
five or six times, without effect; we could see the 
balls strike the water, very near the seal, but the 
animal did not even awake, or change its position. 

As the Rapids of Richelieu, where the river is 
very narrow, and the current rushes tumultuously 
over a rocky bottom, are esteemed dangerous for 
night navigation, and as it was already evening, we 
cast anchor to wait the return of day. This was 
just what we could have wished, for, had we contin- 
ued on our course, we must have arrived at Quebec 
in the night, and thus have lost the noble scenery 
of the approach to tJiis city. We had also the addi- 
tional advantage of a night of perfect quiet and se- 
curity, undisturbed by the jar of the machinery, or 
the trampling of the people. Indeed, had we been 
in motion, we should have felt very secure at night, 

for the fire and the boiler were as far from us, as 

20 



226 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

the whole length of a common European ship, and 
no accident has ever happened in this river. 

In the morning we were again underway, as soon 
as we could see sufficiently to avoid the rocks, 
which are so numerous here, that day light is almost 
indispensable to a safe passage. It was a perfect 
May morning, with the finest, softest splendor of an 
Indian summer, so that we had every inducement, 
and every opportunity to observe the various inter- 
esting objects that occurred. By this time we had 
become familiar, and acquainted with several of our 
fellow-passengers, among whom, were English mil- 
itary and naval men, Quebec me rchants, and a Ro- 
man Catholic ecclesiastic. The latter came on 
board at the Three Rivers, and appeared a mild 
and amiable man. From our other companions, to 
whom we made known our country, and our views 
in travelling, we received every desired informa- 
tion, and the most obliging civilities. The military 
gentlemen, particularly, were very courteous, and, 
as they were not only acquainted with Canada, but 
had seen much of other countries, and of foreign 
military adventures, they were very interesting and 
instructive. One of them had witnessed in person, 
some of Wellington's victories, and another, a man 
of most original and attractive character, and ap- 
parently o( warm piety, had been not less occupied, 
in the East-Indies, in promoting schemes of benev- 
olence, than in the pursuit of arms. Having been 
warned that Quebec would burst upon us, all of a 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 227 

audden, and that we were drawing near to it, our 
eyes now gazed in no other direction, and our 
thoughts became entirely fixed upon that object. 



APPROACH TO QUEBEC. 

Oct. B. — This seat of ancient dominion — now 
hoary with the lapse of more than two centuries — 
formerly the seat of a French empire in the west — 
lost and won by the blood of gallant armies, and of 
illustrious commanders — throned on a rock, and 
defended by all the proud defiance of war — who 
could approach such a city without emotion ? — Who 
in America has not longed to cast his eyes on the 
water-girt rocks and towers of Quebec ! 

On approaching this city, about the middle of the 
day, we enjoyed the most propitious circumstances 
of light and weather. 

From Cape Rouge, on our left, (seven miles 
above Quebec,) there is an uninterrupted range of 
high ground, rising even into hills and precipices. 
Cape Rouge is so called, from its red color — the 
precipitous bank being stained, probably, by oxid 
of iron, so as to give it, for miles, a reddish hue. 

The land grew higher and higher-, we passed 
the mouth of the Chaudiere river, six miles from 
Quebec, on our right, where a number of ships 
were waiting to take in timber, and we watched 
every moment for the appearance of the great for- 



228 TO«R BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEnEC. 

tress of the north, while one of our miUtary ac- 
quaintances pointed out to us the various interest- 
ing objects, as we came up with them in succession. 
At length we descried the towers of Quebec, stand- 
ing on a rock of three hundred and forty-feet in 
height, measured from the river. 

I have already remarked that the banks, (espe- 
cially the north one,) are, for miles above the city, 
very precipitous, and they grow more so the near- 
er we approach. About two miles from Quebec, 
we were shown Sillery river and cove, and within 
one mile, or a mile and a half of the city, Wolfe's 
cove, now 611ed with lumber and ships. This name 
has been derived, from the fact, that here General 
Wolfe, under cover of night, landed his army, un- 
perceived by the French, and clambering up the 
precipice, gained the heights of Abraham. 

Three round towers of stone, mounted with can- 
non and standing on these heights, in advance of 
the other works of Quebec, are the first objects that 
strike the eye ; then the high walls of stone, cover- 
ed with heavy artillery, and which, as we come 
nearer to the city, we perceive to extend all along, 
upon the verge of the precipice, of naked rock, of 
more than three hundred feet in height, which di- 
vides the lower from the upper town. On our 
right was the ground on the south-eastern side o/ 
the river, called Point Levi. This also is a preci- 
pice of rock, but rather less elevated than Cape 
Diamond, on which the citadel of Quebec is built. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 229 

Point Levi is now covered with brilliant white hou- 
ses. In the year 1759, General Monckton, by or- 
der of General Wolfe, erected his batteries there, 
to bombard Quebec. 

PRINT NO. 5. 

This sketch, taken by Mr. W , from the 

steam-boat, was commenced, about three or four 
miles above the city, and when we were passing 
every moment, rapidly along. It was unavoidably 
subjected to the disadvantage of constant change of 
position ; but, as it fortunately happened, this cir- 
cumstance rather augmented the distinctness, than 
altered the relative position of the principal objects. 

On the right, is exhibited part of the promonto- 
ry of Point Levi, with a glimpse of a few of the 
houses and ships at its foot. In the remote view, 
down the river, are seen some of the highlands, be- 
yond the falls of Montmorenci, on the left bank of 
the river, and at the distance of from ten to fifteen 
miles. Immediately before the observer, is the 
smooth expanse of the river, with some of the nu- 
merous ships and boats that adorn its surface. 

On the left, and nearest at hand, a beautiful 
copse of wood, with some buildings at its (eet, just 
intercepts the view of Wolfe's cove, which lies be- 
tween this grove and the high bank on which stands 
the nearest round tower ; only the opening of the 
cove is seen. Then come the heights, on which 



230 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

are the plains of Abraham, and upon them the Mar- 
tello towers, two of which only are, from this posi- 
tion, visible ; the view of two others is cut off by 
the intervening heights. Further on, appears Cape 
Diamond, composed of almost perpendicular pre- 
cipices of naked rock, three hundred and forty-five 
feet in the greatest height. The walls and towers 
of massy stone, pierced and cut down for embra- 
sures, and, crowned with the flag-staff and colors 
that appear on this Cape, constitute the Citadel 
OF Quebec. Immediately at the foot of this 
precipice, is the commencement of the lower 
town which is continued around the foot of the 
rock; only a very small part of it, and no portion 
of the houses of the upper town is visible from this 
point of view. 

****** 

Arrived in the bay of Quebec, we found it 
swarming with ships, and presenting every appear- 
ance of a great seat of commerce.' The bay is a 
beautiful piece of water, looking like a perfect lake, 
with most nobly formed swelling shores. It is 
bounded by the ground just mentioned — by the Isle 
of Orleans, four miles down the river, and by a de- 
lightful country, on the north, and north-east, inter- 
sected by the Montmorenci and St. Charles' rivers, 
which fall into the bay; the ground slopes with 
charming declivity to the water, around which it 




'WIW 



^ 



f I 






IP 



ll i ^'f i . II' 

] I HJ 



iiiiilU'iiilr'iJf^P iii^ 



::i»;!'tfBajll)||l»i|'r'!l 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 23L, 

sweeps gracefully like a bow, and presents in a long 
circuit, so many snow-white cottages — handsome 
country houses, and fine populous villages, that it 
seems for leagues almost one continued street. 
The land is finely cultivated, and even now, is cov- 
ered with the deepest verdure, and sprinkled with 
dandelions in full bloom. Back of this fine amphi- 
theatre of rural beauty, ranges of mountains stretch 
their shaggy summits, and limit the view. The 
harbor is one of the grandest imaginable, and 
the whole scene resembles extremely the pic- 
tures of the bay of Naples, to which, it is paid 
by competent judges, to bear a strong resemblance. 
We had scarcely time to admire this fine scene, be- 
fore we were moored at the dock in the lower town, 
in the midst of all the din of a crowded port. — ■ 
While we were waiting for the necessary arrange- 
ments to land, we had a few moments to contem- 
plate the new scene before us. Contiguous, was 
the lower town, skirting the upper, and embracing 
the feet of its rocky precipices. It makes a circuit 
of, I should imagine, almost two miles, and is crowd- 
ed in the most compact manner possible, on a nar- 
row strip of land, between the precipices and the 
St. Lawrence. The houses are so far below the 
walls of the upper town, that a stone could be drop- 
ped into the chimnies of the nearest, and it would, 
in most places, fall two or three hundred feet in the 
air, before it reached its object. 

One of the most striking objects before our eyes 
was the castle of St. Louis — the residence of the 



232 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QlTEnEC. 

governor. It is a hundred and sixty-two feet long, 
fort}-tive broad, and three stories high. It stands 
(almost impending over the lower town,) upon 
the very verge of the giddy precipice of two hun- 
dred feet in height, and lofty pillars are built up 
from the rock below to support its gallery, which 
runs the whole length of the building. It is a plain 
yellow structure of stone, and now exhibits no ap- 
pearance of a castle, although it was a fortress under 
the French government. 

From the castle, an observer may look down 
perpendicularly upon the houses of the lower town, 
and see all the confusion, even to the motion of a 
dog; all the offensive, as well as agreeable objects 
of a crowded port — the grotesque assemblage of 
buildings, peculiar (as is said) to an old French town; 
he may hear the rumbling of carts and drays, and 
the jargon of different languages, and he will inhale 
the smoke and gases from a crowd of chimnies, ris- 
ing to the foot of the building on which he stands. 

On the right of the castle, the massy walls appear 
again, and the black artillery, pointing over the par- 
apet, look like beasts of prey, crouching, and ready 
to leap upon their victims. 

We soon landed, under the auspices of Captain 

5 (our newly acquired military friend,) who 

politely showed us our lodgings, in St. John's street, 
had our baggage conveyed to them by his own 
servant, and called soon after to inquire for our 
welfare. 




n 

^ 






fe 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC, 133 
PRINT NO. 6. 

This view was taken from the steam-boat, while, 
still other steam-boats and vessels were between 
it and the wharf, and they are the nearest objects 
which we observe at the bottom of the picture.* — 
Then come the buildings in the most crowded and 
bustling part of the lower town, which may be con- 
sidered (with a considerable omission of houses fur- 
ther to the left,) as a continuation of the commence- 
ment of the lower town, seen at the foot of Cape 
Diamond, in print No. 5. 

In the present print we see, immediately before 
us, confused piles of houses and stores, built, in 
many instances, in the old French style, with steep 
high roofs, having two or more rows of dormant 
windows. 

On the highest point of the extreme left, is Cape 
Diamond, with a part of the citadel in view, crown- 
ed with a flag and telegraph. On the right of 
these, are a few of the houses of the upper town, 
and almost immediately before us, the elevated 
castle of St. Louis, with its gallery, supported by 
high pillars of stone, springing from the rocks below. 

Still further on the right, we observe other hous- 
es in the upper town, (only the nearest edge of 
which is, however, visible,) and on the extreme 
right, is a spire of one of the Catholic churches. 

* The wall and arched passage, on the nearest part of the shore, 
ere not copied, but are from fancy. 



134 TOUB BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

ENTRANCE INTO QUEBEC. 

As we passed along the streets of the lower town, 
I could well have thought that we were in the Wap- 
ping of London. A swarming population, among 
whom sailors were conspicuous ; the cheering 
heigho ! of the latter, working in the ships ; the va- 
rious merchandize crowded into view, in front of 
the shops and warehouses ; the narrow compact 
streets, absolutely full of buildings ; the rattling of 
innumerable carts and drays, and all the jargon of 
discordant voices and languages, would scarcely 
permit us to believe that we were arrived in a remote 
corner of the civilized world. 

We did not feel so absolutely like strangers, as 
we should have done, without the countenance of 
the captain. I have already mentioned, that a for- 
tuitous acquaintance with this gentleman, on board 
the steam-boat, and an incidental disclosure to him 
of our views in visiting Canada, led to a good deal 
of intimacy, and, on his part, to offers of service. 

He is a captain of ; is still a young man, and 

being open, frank, and friendly in his deportment, 
he won our confidence, and did not withhold his 
own. We learned, that he served in the peninsu- 
lar war, both under Sir John Moore, and under 
Wellington ; he was with the former, when he fell, 
in the flight of the British army from Corunna, and 
with the latter, on various distinguished occasions. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 235 

His wife, a very fine young woman, who, with 
another lady, had come to the wharf to receive 
him, joined us, a^nd, with this pleasant little party, 
we entered Quebec. 

The first street of the lower town, along which 
we passed, came to an abrupt termination, the last 
house standing at the foot of the precipice, when, 
turning suddenly to the right, into a street, one of 
whose sides was overhung by the frowning rock, 
we soon came to a foot passage of stairs, made of 
plank, very steep and high, and furnished with iron 
railings; this passage terminated in Mountain street, 
as it is called, from the steepness of the ascent. It 
is the only passage from this side into :the upper 
town, and it was by no means an easy task to as- 
cend it, even on a good foot pavement. 

In the mean time, we admired the strength and 
agility of the little Canadian horses, which, with 
heavily loaded carts at their heels, perseveringly 
scramble up this arduous ascent, and with still 
greater care and firmness, sustain their ponderous 
vehicles when descending, and prevent them from 
hurrying themselves and their burdens, headlong 
down the steep. 

The castle of St. Louis, (literally a castle in the 
air,) was now seen immediately above our heads, 
on the left, at the distance of two hundred and fifty 
feet. It is completely on the edge of the precipice, 
which overhangs the lower town, and from its dan- 
gerous pre-eminence, appears ready to participate 



236 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

in the destruction which it seems threatening to all 
below. 

We now passed the grand Prescot Gate, under 
ponderous arches of stone, of great thickness and 
weight, and entered the upper town. 

The impression of every thing was completely 
foreign from any thing that we see in the United 
States. Buildings of wood, and even of brick, are 
almost entirely unknown. Stone, either rough from 
the quarry, or covered with white cement, or hewn 
according to the taste and condition of the proprie- 
tor, is almost the only material for building ; roofs, 
in many instances, and generally on the better sort 
of buildings, glittering with tin plate, with which 
they are neatly covered ; and turrets and steeples, 
pouring a flood of light from the same substance ; 
these are among the first things that strike the eyes 
of a stranger, entering the city of Quebec. 

If from the United States, he sees a new popu- 
lation, and, to a great extent, a completely foreign 
people, with French faces and French costume: 
the French language salutes his ear, as the common 
tongue of the streets and shops : in short, he per- 
ceives that, even in the very capital, there is only 
a sprinkling of English population ; it is still a 
French city ; and the Cathedral, the extensive col- 
lege of the Jesuits, now used for barracks, and most 
of the public buildings and private houses, are 
French. He sees troops mingled, here and there, 
with the citizens; he perceives the British uniform, 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 237 

and the German in the British service, which rennind 
him that the country has masters, different from 
the mass of its population, and although the milita- 
ry are, obviously, not subjects of terror to the citi- 
zens, the first impression borders on melancholy, 
when we see these memorials of an empire fallen, 
and of an empire risen in its stead. Sixty years 
have done little towards obhterating the Gallic fea- 
tures of the country, and with a pleasure very rare- 
ly experienced in similar cases, we involuntarily 
revolve in our minds, here is a country conquered, 
though not oppressed. 

Trumpets and bugles now startle us with a sud- 
den burst of martial music, and we can hardly be- 
lieve that we are not arrived in a fortified town of 
Europe. 



It was a fine morning, (October Tth,) and, as we 
were about to avail ourselves of this favorable 
weather, to visit some parts of the environs of Que- 
bec, I will first describe our carriage, which was 



THE CANADIAN CALASH. 



This is not unlike an American chaise or gig, but 
is built much stouter, and with or without a top ; the 
horse is much farther from the body of the carriage, 
and this allows room for a driver, whose seat rests 

21 



238 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 

©n the front or foot board, of that part of the vehi- 
cle in which we ride ; this foot board, after sloping 
in the usual manner, then rises perpendicularly, to 
such a height, as to sustain the seat ; high sides are 
also furnished to the part where the feet rest in a 
common chaise, and thus children and baggage are 
secured from falling out. The calash carries two 
grown persons on the seat within, besides the driver, 
who is often a man; hisseat,and the board which sup- 
ports it, fall, by meansof hinges, when the passengers 
are to get in, and the board and seat are then hook- 
ed up again to their place, when the driver mounts. 
In such a machine, which is the most common vehi- 
cle of the country, and is sometimes, as in the pre- 
sent instance, made clumsily handsome, we made 
our first excursion from Quebec. 

Our driver was Michael Gouvan, a very intelli- 
gent and obliging young man, a French Canadian, 
who spoke both English and French; and his horse, 
(an iron gray,) was one of that small, but hardy 
breed, which being, in this country, left in their 
natural state, are extremely stout and courageous, 
and carry the heavy calash, and three men, appa- 
rently with more ease, than our horses draw our 
gigs, and two grown persons. 



EXCURSION TO BEAUFORT AND MONTMORENCI. 

I have already observed that it was a very fine 
morning ; the temperature was mild, and the skies 



rOTTR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 239 

bright, with a balmy softness in the atmosphere, ac- 
companied by a slight haziness; it is exactly like 
our Indian summer, and indeed, they here call this 
kind of weather by the same name; we could not 
have had a more acceptable time for our little jour- 
ney of nine miles, to the falls of Montmorenci. 

We passed out at the gate St. John, on the north 
western side of the town; it stands at the head of 
the street of the same name, and leads to a very ex- 
tensive and populous suburb, situated entirely with- 
out the walls. This suburb exhibits many new and 
good buildings, and appears modern. We soon 
reached the beautiful meadows, north-east of Que- 
bec, through which flows the river Charles. On 
our left, was an extensive nunnery, quite by itself, 
in the fields ; it appears to be the same described by 
Charlevoix, nearly a century ago, under the name 
of the hospital. 

For four miles, we passed through some of the 
most beautiful meadows which I have ever seen ; 
they were neatly divided into small enclosures, by 
stakes driven into the ground, and secured at top, 
by a rail, fastened with withes ; the meadows were 
covered with thriving cattle : they were still rich in 
deep verdure, and would have adorned the banks 
of the Connecticut, or of the Thames. The road 
through them, was much cut up by wheels, as this 
is a great thorough-fare into Quebec, and the land 
is naturally moist and rich. Houses were scattered 
here and there, upon the meadows, and when we 



240 TOUB BETWEEN HARTFORD AND «iUEBEC. 

began to ascend the rising ground, we entered the 
extensive village of Beauport. 

This village, consisting of sixty or seventy hou- 
ses, is built principally on one street, of four or five 
miles in length, and extends quite to the river 
Montmorenci ; it is one of those, which I mention- 
ed as making so brilliant an appearance from the 
bay of Quebec. The farms and garden grounds of 
this village are "all in a flourishing state, and the 
orchards, and occasional clumps of trees, combine 
to render it one of the pleasantest roads in the en- 
virons of Quebec. This village is the residence 
©f many families of respectability."* 

The houses are generally of stone, covered with 
a cement, and white washed, roof and all; this 
gives them a very neat appearance, and makes 
them look very brilliant, even at a considerbje dis- 
tance ; commonly they are of one story, sometimes 
of two, and inside they appeared very comfortable. 
The windows, as is generally the fact in the French 
houses, are divided, up and down, in the middle, 
and swing, like doors on hinges. 

There is in this village, a large and showy 
church, with three steeples, and on entering it, we 
found solitary individuals at their private devotions, 
crossing themselves with holy water, and silently 
moving their lips. This church contained a num- 
ber of pictures, and they were ornamenting its ceil- 
ing with golden roses. 

♦ Bouehette, 



TOUR UETWEEr? HARTFORD AND QUEREC. 241 

Our driver left his calash, went into church, 
fell on his knees, and said his prayers with much 
apparent seriousness. 

The Montmorenci is a small, but rapid river, 
rolling tumultuously, over a very rocky bottom, 
and just above the falls, is considerably smaller than 
the Housatonuck, at the falls of Salisbury, in Con- 
necticut. 

Leaving our calash and driver on the high hill, 
which forms the western bank of the river, we 
crossed a bridge, and passed down the eastern side 
of the Montmorenci, which is also very high ground, 
and, as we approach the St. Lawrence, it rises, so 
as to be even still higher than the opposite shore. 
From this elevation, the beautiful island of Orleans, 
which is twenty miles long, and five wide, was in 
full view before us. It is well cultivated, contains 
about four thousand* inhabitants, and, next to Mont- 
real, is the most important island in the river. On 
the side contiguous to where we were, it slopes to 
the water's edge, and terminates in a handsome 
beach of sand. A similar beach, corresponds to 
it, on the main; the ship channel is on the other 
side of the island. 

As we passed along through the fields, we found 
a man and boy ploughing. The oxen were yoked, 
not as with us, by the shoulders and neck, but by 
the horns. A kind of yoke lay upon their necks, 
and was fastened, by leather straps, to the horns; 

* Bouchette. 

21* 



242 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND (QUEBEC. 

but no bow, or other contrivance, passed around the 
neck; thus the oxen draw entirely by their horns; 
and I am told that the French farmers cannot be 
induced to adopt our method, although it is obvious 
that the animal is tlius sadly embarrassed, and can 
exert very little power. 1 saw, however, one yoke 
in another field, harnessed in our way. 



GEOLOGY. 

There is very little variety in the geology be- 
tween Quebec and Montmorenci. After leaving 
the city, the first objects that strike the eye, where 
the green slopes of the hills have been excavated, 
in quarrying, are numerous black rocks, very regu- 
larly stratified, and looking almost like great beds 
of coal. These rocks, which prevail through the 
village of Beauport, are black fetid limestone, in 
strata nearly horizontal, and presenting in the sec- 
tion of the hills, a remarkable regularity, almost 
architectural. The strata, being divided by seams, 
both horizontal and vertical, look as if they had been 
laid up by the skill of a mason. The houses in 
Beauport, are generally built of this stone, and the 
people burn it into lime at their very doors. Its 
great regularity, and the ease with which it divides, 
must make it an excellent building stone ; while the 
combustible substance which it contains, will also 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 243 

aid, very materially, in burning it into quick lime. — 
These strata appear to be secondary limestone. 

The strata, over which the Montmorenci falls, 
seem to be, (for I could not get near enough to be 
quite certain,) of the same description. I am fa- 
voured by Dr. John I. Bigsby, of the Medical staff 
of the British army in Canada, with the following 
facts, as to the "succession of the litrata a few yards 
above the bridge, at the falls of Montmorenci, on 
the west side of the river :" 

"The lowest visible rocks, rising six or eight feet 
from the bed of the river, are dough shaped mounds 
of granite, vertical, with a south-west direction, with 
many irregular quartz veins, half a foot thick. On 
it, lies a perfectly horizontal sand stone, so coarse 
as to resemble conglomerate, (I suspect this sand 
stone is a coarse gray wacke.) It is four feet thick, 
and weathered red and white. Upon this rests light 
hair brown, highly crystalline limestone, very fetid, 
full of shells, vegetable filaments, massive blende, 
and a mineral, like brown spar. This gradually be- 
comes dull, less crystalline, and at length, at the 
top of the bank, is nearly a common blue lime 
(stone,) with a conchoidal fracture, and still here 
and there containing small crystals of carbonates. 
The whole height here, is perhaps, forty feet." 

As we walked along upon the eastern bank ot the 
Montmorenci, and approached the St. Lawrence, 
we found ourselves on the verge of a precipice, of 
three hundred feet in height: this terminates at the 



244 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QtJEEEC. 

St. Lawrence, or very near it, in an almost perpen- 
dicular promontory, down which, with some diffi- 
culty, we wound our way to the bed of the great 
river. The strata of rock here, run parallel to the 
St. Lawrence, and at right angles to the Montmo- 
renci ; as these strata are very soft, and easily de- 
composed and disintegrated, the Montmorenci, 
which rolls its rapid and turbulent waters across 
them, has evidently, by long continued attrition, 
worn them away, so that in the bed of this small 
river, at the falls, these rocks have receded about 
one sixth of a mile from the St. Lawrence. 



THE FALLS OF MONTMORENCL 

The distructive action of the river itself, upoa 
the rocks \Ahich form its bed, and its banks, has 
produced in the long course of time, a deep bay, or 
indentation, shaped nearly like a parabola, or a 
horse-shoe magnet; it recedes from two hundred 
and eighty, to three hundred yards,* from the St, 
Lawrence, and its almost perpendicular banks, are 
in different places, from two to three hundredYeet 
high; they are composed apparently, of fetid lime 
stone, very much decomposed, which, on the east- 
ern side, resembles extremely a fine grained slate, 
or sand stone. The crumbled and broken parts, be- 

* Bouchette. 



lOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEnEC. 243 

come fetid by friction or percussion. At the upper 
end of this bay, the Montmorenci, after a gentle pre- 
vious dechvity, which greatly increases its veloci- 
ty, takes its stupendous leap of two hundred and 
forty feet,* into a chasm among the rocks, where it 
boils and foams in a natural rocky basin, from which, 
after its force is in some measure exhausted in its 
own whirlpools and eddies, it flows away in a gen- 
tle stream, towards the St. Lawrence. The fall is 
nearly perpendicular, and appears not to deviate 
more than three or four degrees from it. This de- 
viation is caused by the ledges of rock below, and 
is just sufficient to break the water completely into 
foam and spray. The width of the stream, at the 
moment of its fall, is apparently, fifty or sixty feet; 
it may be seventy when the river is swollen by 
rains, or by the melted snows. 

The effect on the beholder is most delightful. 
The river, at some distance, seems suspended in 
the air, in a sheet of billowy foam,f and, contrast- 

* It is astonishing that Charlevoix states the fall of Montmo- 
renci as beingf thirty feet wide, and only forly high. 1 cannot but 
think that there must have been a typographical error in the 
omission of two hundred, before forty, especially, as Charlevoix 
states the height of the Niagara falls very nearly as Ihey are now 
estimated. It is not probable that a century has made much dif- 
ference with either, 

t It has been compared to a white ribbon, suspended in the air; 
this comparison does justice to the delicacy, but not to the gran- 
deur of this cataract. 



246 TOUK BETWEEN HARTFORD KM) QUEBEC. 

edj as it is, with the black frowning abyss, into 
which it fails, it is an object of the highest interest. 

As we approached nearer to its foot, the impres- 
sions of grandeur and sublimity were, in the most 
perfect manner imaginable, blended with those of 
extreme beauty. 

This river is of so considerable magnitude, that, 
precipitated as it is, from this amazing height, the 
thundering noise, and mighty rush of waters, and 
the never ceasing wind and rain, produced by the 
fall, powerfully arrest the attention : the spectator 
stands in profound awe, mingled with delight, espe- 
cially when he contrasts the magnitude of the fall, 
with that of a villa, on the edge of the dark preci- 
pices of frowning rock, which forms the western 
bank, and with the casual spectators, looking down 
from the same elevation. But, these impressions 
are not sufficient to overpower the beauty of this 
cataract. The sheet of foam, which breaks over 
the ridge, is more and more divided, as it is dashed 
against the successive layers of rock, which it al- 
most completely veils from view; the spray be- 
comes very delicate and abundant, from top to bot- 
tom, hanging ov6r, and revolving around the tor- 
rent, till it becomes lighter and more evanescent, 
than the whitest fleecy clouds of summer, than the 
finest attenuated web, than the lightest gossamer, 
constituting the most airy and sumptuous drapery, 
that can be imagined. Yet, like the drapery of 
pome of the Grecian statutes, which, while it veils, 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORO AND QUEBEC. 247 

exhibits more forcibly, the form beneath, this does 
not hide, but exalts the effect produced by this no- 
ble cataract. 

The rain-bow we saw in great perfection; bow 
within bow, and, (what I never saw elsewhese, so 
perfectly,) as I advanced into the spray, the bow 
became complete, myself being a part of its circum- 
ference, and its transcendent glories moving with 
every change of position. This beautiful and splen- 
did sight was to be enjoyed only by advancing quite 
into the shower of spray;* as if, in the language 
of ancient poetry, and fable, the genii of the place, 
pleased with the beholder's near approach to the 
seat of their empire, decked the devotee with the 
appropriate robes of the cataract, the vestal veil of 
fleecy spray, and the heavenly splendors of the 
bow. 

The falls of Montmorenci have been often de- 
scribed, and we had obtained tolerably definite and 
correct ideas of them, but their entire impression 
on us was beyond our expectations. 

Those who visit this place in the winter, see one 
fine feature added to the scene, although they may 
lose some others. The spray freezes, and forms a 
regular cone, of sometimes it is said one hundred 
feet in height, and standing immediately at the bot- 
tom of the cataract. It is even said, that some are 

* Which was very copious, and, (if not averted by an umbrel- 
la,^ would soon wet the observer through his clothej. 



248 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q.UEBEC. 

hardy enough to clamber up this icy tower. Captain 

informs us that he has performed this giddy 

feat. 

PRINT, NO. 7. 

In this view, on the right, are seen the rocky 
strata, rising from the St. Lawrence, and presenting 
their broken edges ; higher up, the precipice is cov- 
ered with sand, gravel, and ruins of the rocks, and 
with some poor verdure, and stinted shrubs. This 
high bank, here terminating abruptly on the great 
river, is continued around to the fall, forming the 
right side of the great curve, in the centre of which, 
appears the cataract. In the picture, the spray is 
but partially represented, and is less copious, and 
rises to a less considerable height, than in the scene 
itself. Just where the river commences its leap, 
some rocks are seen, breaking the current. 

Immediately in front, nearest to the observer, and 
just where some spectators are placed, the fall is 
seen with great advantage; perhaps, it is more 
beautiful there, than any where else; the views of 
it are, however, very fine at every position, as we 
advance towards it, (although the impending banks 
of ruinous and decomposed rock, look rather alarm- 
ing, as we pass along.) At the foot of the cataract, 
on the right, we perceive a projection of rock, half 
veiling the bottom of the fall from view ; this rock 
is constantly wet and slippery, with the spray, and 




Jllil''llll'lfl 

if 



PI 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 249 

the observer scrambles up its sides, with some diffi- 
culty but, when arrived there, he is fully compen- 
sated by the grandeur of the scene; if he advance 
over the other declivity of the rock, the bow at- 
tends his every step, and at some places, two or 
three concentric bows are seen. If willing to be 
thoroughly wet, and possessed of a little of the 
spirit of adventure, he may, by persevering in his 
advances even gain a peep behind the cataract. 
On the left, is seen the other side of the bay ; it is 
composed of perpendicular ledges of black stratifi- 
ed rock; (I presume it is the same fetid limestone, 
which constitutes the basis of Beauport,) and on its 
summit, a little removed from the edge, is a hand- 
some villa. Almost exactly on the edge, and re- 
sembling a low fence, is seen an aqueduct, which 
diverts a part of the river, just above the fall, and 
conducts it to a saw mill at the bottom of the bank. 
The tranquil basin, below the fall, at low water, 
presents to view, portions of th(; rocky strata, which 
form its bed, and it is then fordable, and also for 
some time, during the latter part of the ebb, and 
the beginning of the flow of the tide. 

******* 



SAW MILLS AND LUMBER. 

Just below the falls, on the right bank of the 

Montmorenci, at its confluence v/ith the St. Law- 

22 



250 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC 

rence, is the great establishment of Mr. Patterson, 
for sawing lumber. The mills, which are probably 
as extensive as any in the world, are fed by a 
stream, directed (as is already mentioned in the 
description of print 7,) from the Montmorenci, just 
above the falls. It is conducted along, on the 
high bank, in a large artificial channel, of plank and 
timber, till, rushing down the inclined plane, form- 
ed by the great natural descent of the hill, it ac- 
quires a prodigious velocity, and, falling upon the 
■water wheels, in the mill, at the bottom of the bank, 
it imparts an impulse, sufficiently powerful, to turn 
the machinery of a vast establishment, and per- 
forms a very great amount of labour. Nor does it 
injure the cataract, as Lieutenant Hall, in his trav- 
els, supposes it would \ for, it is no more missed 
from the stream of the Montmorenci, than a pebble 
would be from its banks. 

Contiguous to these mills, is a vast deposit of 
lumber; much of it is afloat, and is guarded from 
floating quite away, by wharves and pillars, and by 
very extensive artificial dams, running out a great 
way into the St. Lawrence, and forming a large ba- 
sin. I cannot say with confidence, how many acres 
it appeared to cover ; my elevation on the contiguous 
bank, was so great, that I might be much deceived ; 
but it served, together with the deposits which we 
had seen at the Chaudiere, at Sillery, in Wolfe's 
cove, and other places, to give us a strong impres- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORl) AND QUEBEC. 251 

sion of the magnitude of the Canadian lumber trade ; 
it is, in fact, the principal business of the country ; 
and the ships waiting to receive it, are very nume- 
rous. A good deal of this lumber, as we were as- 
sured, comes from Vermont, and is rafted down 
Lake Champlain, and through the rivers Sore! and 
St. Lawrence. 

To us, who had never seen any thing to compare 
with the exhibition of lumber, on the waters around 
Quebec, this sight, and the other similar ones, ap- 
peared very remarkable. The number and size of 
the ships, also, that are waiting to receive it, far ex- 
ceeded our expectations, and evinced, that, if Great 
Britain cannot supply herself with lumber, on good 
terms, from any other source, this colony must, for 
this reason alone, be very important to her ; and, 
indeed it has obviously this great advantage, as a 
source of supply, that it is in a great measure, in- 
dependent of the contingency of war. 

As an article of trade, however, I am aware that 
lumber from its great bulk, and low value, makes a 
much greater show, than a commerce in many com- 
modities, which, in a much more snug way, may 
employ a much greater amount of capital, and of 
profits. 

The Lumber rafts on the St, Lawrence, well de- 
serve to be mentioned among the curiosities of the 
river. We found some of them around us in the 
morning, as we were coming down to Quebec, and 
were amused with the view of these anomalous 



252 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

floating communities. Some of them occupied 
thousands of square feet on the water, and exhibit- 
ed an active, grotesque population, busy in steering 
these ponderous misshapen piles, down the current 
of the river; they erect huts upon them, and con- 
trive to concentrate upon the rafts, the few and 
coarse accommodations, which their frugal habits, 
and their tardy inland voyage may demand. 

We did not expect to find oppressively hot 
weather in Canada, so late as the 7th of October, 
but in clambering the precipices about the falls of 
Montmorenci, we experienced a degree of heat, 
like that in the middle of July. 



VIEW OF QUEBEC AND ITS ENVIRONS, FROM 
BEAUPORT. 

From the river Montmorenci, the ground gently 
descends towards the St. Lawrence, and towards 
Quebec, but as the distance is considerable, the ele- 
vation is sufficient to afford a good view of that city. 

Approaching it by water, from Montreal, we have 
only a glimpse of the upper town, but from the 
Beauport side, we see it perfectly. Most of the 
upper town is built upon -a side hill, sloping rapidly 
to the north and east, and the view from Beauport, 
gives the idea of a fine city of considerable magni- 
tude. 

The roofs and spires, covered with tin, glittered 
to-day, in the bright meridian sun. The towers and 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 253 

turretted walls, completely encircle the upper town, 
although they exclude the lower; and the suburbs, 
(now become almost as extensive and handsome, as 
the city itself,) are also in full view, with a considera- 
ble part of the lower town, and most of the ships in 
the bay and river. 

The opposite shores of the island of Orleans, and 
of Point Levi, with the numerous farm houses and 
villages, that are conspicuous all around, and the 
luxuriant meadows, intersected by the Charles, ad- 
ded to the beauty of the prospect. 

Indeed, Quebec and its environs, present as mag- 
nificent scenery as can well be imagined. Towers 
and spires — walls and rocks — cascades and precipi- 
ces — swelling hills, and luxuriant vallies, and woody 
mountains — beautiful villages, and numberless sol- 
itary villas, and white cottages — with grand rivers, 
and crowding fleets, are all united to delight the 
spectator. Such scenes would be esteemed very 
fine in any country. 

PRINT, NO. 3. 

This print, although the scene is principally the 
same, does not exhibit exactly the view, from Beau- 
port, which was last described. The observer is 
not in Beauport, but is standing on the eastern side 
of the Montmorenci, on the bank, which is exhibit- 
ed on the right of print 7. Immediately before him, 



^22 



254 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

is the saw mill of Mr. Patterson, with floating lum- 
ber, and a ship waiting to receive it. On the right, 
is the high promontory, situated on the western side 
of the Montmorenci, and constituting the counter- 
part to that exhibited in the last print ; the ship, 
and sawmill, and two adventurers, on the top of ihe 
precipice, give some idea of its height. From the 
mill, we see the aqueduct passing along the hill ; 
after it begins to descend from the heights, it is cov- 
ered on the top, with thick plank, strongly bound by 
timber, to prevent the water from overflowing, for 
the stream is so copious, as completely to fill this 
hollow box, through which the water is hurried with 
a frightful velocity. On the left is Point Levi, op- 
posite to Quebec, and distant from the observer five 
or six miles ; at the foot of this promontory, we see 
a little settlement, a port in mmiature, and numbers 
of ships contiguous. In the extreme distance, are 
the hills about the mouth of the Chaudiere river, 
and beyond it ; they are from twelve to fifteen, and 
even twenty miles distant, and are situated on the 
right bank of the St. Lawrence. 

In the middle of the view, on the right, is the 
city of Quebec, exhibiting a part, both of the upper 
and lower town. This view may be considered as 
being, in this respect, a continuation of that, ex- 
hibited in prints No. 5 and 6 ; and, as beginning 
nearly where the latter leaves off. We see the up- 
per town, with its crowded show of houses and 



Mi 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 255 

spires, and with the flag and telegraph on Cape 
Diamond, surrounded by its military wall, and dis- 
tant four or five miles; the wall passes along upon 
the very edge of the precipice of naked black rock. 
Immediately at the foot of this precipice, is ?» con- 
tinuation of the lower town, with its quays, ships, 
and ware houses, and, on its extreme right, we see 
the steep ascent to the palace gate. The promon- 
tory, on the right of the Montmorenci, intercepts 
the view of Beauport, and of the beautiful slope 
from it to the St. Lawrence ; nor do we see the 
declivity of the city of Quebec to the north and 
west; from the highest parts that are in view, it de- 
clines very rapidly in (hat direction, towards the 
Charles river; and this part is extensive and popu- 
lous, and includes the fine suburb of St. Johns. 

In order to urderstand this print, and No. 5 and 
6, it must be remembered, that the front of the 
town, towards the St. Lawrence, is circular, pre- 
senting its convex side to the rivers, in the form of 
the exterior curve of an amphitheatre. 



* 



BATTLE OF MONTMORENCI. 

The roar of the cataract — the beauty of the re- 
volving spray, and the splendors of the rainbow, 
have not always been observed, in tranquility, at 



256 TOUll UETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEIiEC. 

Montmorenci ; for the flash, and the smoke, and 
the thunder of artillery, at a former period, 
overwhelmed these milder beauties, and the banks, 
and the waters of these rivers have, at their conflu- 
ence, been stained with blood. 

On the 27th of June, 1759, General Wolfe, ar- 
riving in the St. Lawrence, with an armament equip- 
ped expressly for the reduction of Quebec, estab- 
lished his army upon the island of Orleans, while 
Admiral Saunders, with the fleet, occupied the 
channels and the bay of Quebec. On the 29th, 
General Wolfe detached General Monckton, with 
four battalions, to drive the French force from 
Point Levi, the promontory opposite to Quebec, 
and to occupy that place, a service which was suc- 
cessfully executed. The French soon after, passed 
over from Quebec, with one thousand six hundred 
men, to attack General Monckton, but fell into 
confusion — fired on one another, and retreated 
back to the city.* General Monckton severely 
cannonaded and bombarded the city, from this 
point, and although his fire was quite destructive 
to the lower town, and very injurious to the build- 
ings in the upper, it made no serious impression on 
its defences, and left the place nearly as tenable 
as ever. Indeed, it is obvious from mere inspec- 
tion, that were the works of Quebec, on the side 
next to Point Levi, all destroyed, still it would be 

* General Wolfe's dispatch to his governnjentv 



TOUR BETWEEN HAUTFORD AND QUEBEC. 25t 

of little avail, towards ai\ escalade of the preci- 
pices, of naked rock, in some places more than 
three hundred feet high, on which the walls and 
towers are built. For nnany miles above the city, 
the left bank of the river is a mere precipice, or 
admits of easy and effectual defence, by a small 
number of troops, judiciously stationed. The only 
accessible ground, in the immediate vicinity of Que- 
bec, is the graceful declivity between the river St. 
Charles, which washes the north eastern part of the 
city, and the Montmorcnci. This is the fine natu- 
ral slope, that appeared so beautiful as we entered 
the bay of Quebec, and stretches four or five miles, 
along the river, from Beauport to the St. Lawrence. 
Near Montmorenci, this declivity becomes very 
steep and of arduous ascent. This ground would, 
of course, invite a landing, but the Marquis de Mont- 
calm, had occupied every part of it, with an en- 
trenched camp; batteries of cannon were placed 
at every accessible point, and his rear was defend- 
ed by a thick forest. 

Still, General Wolfe, seeing no prospect of re- 
ducing Quebec, except by first defeating the army 
by which it was defended, and perceivmg no possi- 
bihty of attacking that army, except by occupying 
this ground, took measures to effect that object. 

On the night of July 9th, he passed his army 
over the north channel, between the island of Or- 
leans and the promontory represented on the right 
of print?. He wished next to pass the Montmo- 



258 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

renci above the falls, and to attack the enemy in the 
rear, but, there was no ford nearer than three miles 
up the river, and the opposite bank was entrench- 
ed, and so steep and woody, that it could not be 
successfully attacked. 

He had occupied with cannon, the precipice be- 
low the falls, which forms the right of the curve, in 
print 7; it is higher than the opposite side, to which 
the left of the French camp extended, and the vig- 
or of the fire from this battery, under the direction 
of General Townsend, prevented the French from 
erecting a corresponding battery, near the place 
where the aqueduct is represented, in the left of 
the picture ; this battery was therefore unopposed, 
and considerably annoyed the French camp. 

We saw the remains of the English battery ; they 
are still distinctly visible on the heights, north-east 
of the bay, below the falls ; the bank has now crum- 
bled so much, that the entrenchments are close to 
the edge of the precipice, and the observer, on ac- 
count of the frail support below, should be on his 
guard in approaching the brink. 

It has been already mentioned, in the description 
of print 7, that the bay below the falls is fordable, 
near, and at low water. General Wolfe determined 
to avail himself of this facility, and to attack the en- 
em> !!' front, in their entrenchments; to enfilade 
and batter these, a great quantity of artillery was 
placed upon the eminence, and was served with 
much effect. 



TOUR fiETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 259 

it became necessary to pass the ford on the rock, 
and then to go around the point by the saw mill, 
which is exhibited on the right of print 8. The 
promontory there represented, immediately above 
the saw mill, cuts off, in a great measure, the view 
of the ground occupied by the French camp, and 
also the view of the beach where the English troops 
were to form. 

It was on the morning of the 31st of July, that 
the grenadiers, in the boats of the squadron, sup- 
ported by a part of General Monckton's corps from 
Point Levi, who were also in boats, proceeded for 
the shore; they were thrown into some confusion, 
and detained a good while by accidental ground- 
ing, so that it was late in the afternoon, before they 
effected a landing on the beach, above the saw mill. 
The enemy h?.d precipitately abandoned a redoubt, 
close to the shore ; the corps of Generals Townsend 
and Murray, which were to ford the Montmorenci, 
and come round to the beach, to unite in the attack, 
were on their way, and in good order, but the corps 
of General Monckton were not yet landed. 

The grenadiers, consisting of thirteen companies, 
aided by two hundred royal Americans, had orders 
to form in four distinct bodies, and to proceed to 
the attack as soon as they could be supported by 
Monckton's corps, and aided by the troops from the 
ford of the Montmoreuci. 

But, before Monckton's corps were landed, and 
before the other troops were at hand to support 



260 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND ^UtBtC. 

them, and, without wailing to form, they rushed im- 
petuously forward, running towards the "enemy's 
entrenchments, in the utmost disorder and confu- 
sion."* Their courage proved their ruin; they 
were cut down in great numbers, by a very hot and 
well directed fire, and, being unable to form, they 
retreated behind the redoubt, which the French had 
abandoned, leaving their dead to be plundered, and 
numbers of their wounded to be murdered and 
scalped by the savages. General Wolfe now drew off 
his grenadiers, to form them behind General Monck- 
ton's corps, which was by this time drawn up on the 
beach, in "extreme good order." But it was now 
near night — a sudden thunder storm came on — the tide 
began to make — and the attack was abandoned, after 
the loss of between five and six hundred brave men, 
of the flower of the army, and Wolfe, fearing that, if 
he persisted any longer, his retreat might be cut off, 
quietly retired again to his camp, across the 
Montmorenci. This attack has often been censur- ' 
ed as rash, and, after viewing the ground, 1 presume 
most persons would pronounce that judgment to be 
correct. General Wolfe himself, says : "The ene- 
my were indeed posted upon a commanding emi- 
nence. The beach, upon which the troops were 
drawn up, was of a deep mud, with holes, and cut 
by several gullies. The hill to be ascended, very 
steep, and not every where practicable. The 

* Wolfe's letter to Mr. Pitt. 



TOUa BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 261 

enemy numerous in their entrenchments, and their 
fire hot. If the attack had succeeded, our loss must 
certainly have been great, and theirs inconsidera- 
ble, from the shelter which the neighboring woods 
afforded them. The river St, Charles still re- 
mained to be passed, before the town was invested. 
All these circumstances 1 considered ; but, the de- 
sire to act in conformity to the king's intentions, 
induced me to make this trial, persuaded that a 
victorious army finds no difficulties."* 

General Wolfe expected, (had he succeeded,) to 
have penetrated the left of the French camp, where 
his artillery, from the opposite heights, had made 
an impression. Without claiming to have any mili- 
tary knowledge, I may, perhaps, be allowed to say, 
that, after toiling up this hill, on foot, and finding 
it an arduous undertaking to one entirely unmolest- 
ed, it appears next to madness, to lead columns of 
men up a long and steep ascent, where, especially 
in a hot summer's day, they could not for many 
minutes, proceed upon the run, without being put 
out of breath, and where the well directed fire of 
deeply entrenched troops, aided by artillery, must 
speedily cut down, (as it actually did,) one half of 
those who made the rash attempt, while they, in 
turn, could do their enemy little or no harm. 

It was an affair, extremely like Bunker's Hill, in 
almost all its circumstances, except that the French 

* Wolfe's letter to Mr. Pitt. 
23 



262 TOUK BETWEEN HARTFORD AND q,UEBEC. 

possessed regular entrenchments, abundance of 
cannon, and experienced commanders and troops, 
while the Americans, at Bunker's Hill, had nothing 
more than a small redoubt, and a very imperfect 
breast-work, thrown up in one night, and made, to 
some extent, of rail fence and haj, and were almost 
without cannon, and with commanders and troops, 
most of whom had never been in battle before. — 
Had they been situated at Bunker's Hill, as the 
French were, at Montmorenci, they would, without 
doubt, have finally repulsed the assailants. If Gen- 
eral Wolfe had lived, and ultimately failed in the 
campaign, he would probably have been censured, 
with much severity, especially had he been 
frustrated in the attempt to gain the plains of Abra- 
ham, which he certainly would have been, had the 
French commander been as much on his guard 
there, as at Montmorenci. 

In the recital of the horrors of war, we view them 
with wonderful apathy, for the very reason, that 
ought to excite the deepest interest, because the 
results are given by hundreds and by thousands. In 
this vast aggregate of human woe, we forget the 
particular sufferings, and are much less affected, (as 
has often been remarked by moral writers,) by the 
accounts of the slaughter of armies, than we should 
be by the detailed exhibition, of the sufferings of a 
single soldier. But we ought to remember that 
every wounded and dying man has his own individ- 
ual agony ; and that it is not greater for a Wolfe. 
than for every private soldier. 



T@UR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 263 

The following anecdote* contains an account of 
the dangers and sufferings of two individuals, in 
this very battle, and the event happened on the 
very ground which we walked over in this day's 
excursion. I presume that, notwithstanding its 
length, I shall be excused for its introduction : — 

" Captain Ochterlony, and Ensign Peyton, be- 
longed to the regimentof Brigadier-General Monck- 
ton. They were nearly of an age, which did not 
exceed thirty ; the first was a North-Briton, the 
other a native of Ireland. Both were agreeable in 
person, and unblemished in character, and connect- 
ed together by the ties of mutual friendship and 
esteem. On the day that preceded the battle, 
Captain Ochterlony had been obliged to fight a 
duel with a German officer, in which, though he 
wounded and disarmed his antagonist, yet he him- 
self received a dangerous hurt under the right arm, 
in consequence of which, his friends insisted on his 
remaining in camp during the action of next day ; 
but his spirit was too great to comply with this re- 
monstrance. He declared it should never be said 
that a scratch, received in a pwvate rencounter, 
had prevented him from doing his duty, when his 
country required his service ; and he took the field 
with a fusil in his hand, though he was hardly able 
to carry his arms In leading up his men to the 
enemy's entrenchment, he was shot through the 
Jungs with a musket ball, an accident which obliged 

* Smollett's History of England, Vol. V. p. 49. 



264 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD ANIi) QUEBEC. 

him to part with his fusil; but he still continued 
advancing, until, by loss of blood, he became too 
weak to proceed further. About the same time, 
Mr. Peyton was lamed by a shot, which shattered 
the small bone of his left leg. The soldiers, in 
their retreat, earnestly begged, with tears in their 
eyes, that Captain Ochterlony would allow them 
to carry him and the ensign off the field. But he 
was so bigotted to a severe point of honor, that he 
would not quit the ground, though he desired they 
would take care of his ensign. Mr. Peyton, with 
a generous disdain, rejected their good offices, de- 
claring that he would not leave his captain in such 
a situation; and, in a little time, they remained 
sole survivors on that part of the field. 

"Captain Ochterlony sat down by his friend, 
and, as they expected nothing but immediate death, 
they took leave of each other ; yet they were not 
altogether abandoned by the hope of being protect- 
ed as prisoners ; for the captain, seeing a French 
soldier, with two Indians, approach, started up, and 
accosting them in the French language, which he 
spoke perfectly well, expressed his expectation 
that they would treat him and his companion as 
ofRcers, prisoners, and gentlemen. The two Indians 
seemed to be entirely under the conduct of the 
Frenchman, who, coming up to Mr. Peyton, as he 
sat on the ground, snatched his laced hat from his 
head, and robbed the captain of his watch and 
money. This outrage was a signal to the Indiani 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 265 

for mnrder and pillage. One of them, clubbing 
his firelock, struck at him behind, with a view to 
knock him down ; but the blow, missing his head, 
took place upon his shoulder. At the same instant, 
the other Indian poured his shot into the breast of 
this unfortunate young gentleman, who cried out, 
' O Peyton ! the villain has shot me' Not yet satia- 
ted with cruelty, the barbarian sprung upon him, 
and stabbed him in the belly with his scalping 
knife. The captain having parted with his fusil, 
had no weapon for his defence, as none of the offi- 
cers wore swords in the action. The three ruffians 
finding him still alive, endeavored to strangle him 
with his own sash; and he was now upon his knees, 
struggling against them with surprising exertion. — 
Mr. Peyton, at this juncture, l.aving a double bar- 
relled musket in his hand, and seeing the distress of 
his friend, fired atone of the Indians, who dropped 
dead on the spot. The other, thinking the ensign 
would now be an easy prey, advanced towards him, 
and Mr. Peyton, having taken good aim, at the dis- 
tance of four yards, discharged his piece the second 
time, but it seemed to take no effect. The savage 
fired in his turn, and wounded the ensign in the 
shoulder; then, rushing upon him, thrust his bayo 
net through his body; he repeated the blow, which 
Mr. Peyton attempting to parry, received another 
wound in his left hand ; nevertheless, he seized the 
Indian's musket with the same hand, pulled him 
forwards, and, with his right, drawing a dagger 

23* 



266 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

which hung by his side, plunged it into the barba- 
rian's side. A violent struggle ensued ; but at length, 
Mr. Peyton was uppermost, and with repeated 
strokes of his dagger, killed his antagonist outright. 
Here he was seized with an unaccountable emotion 
of curiosity, to know whether or not his shot had 
taken place on the body of the Indian ; he accor- 
dingly turned him up, and stripping off his blanket, 
perceived that the ball had penetrated quite through 
the cavity of the breast. Ilavinj„^ thus obtained a 
dear bought victory, he started up on one leg, and 
saw Captain Ochterlony standing at the distance of 
sixty yards, close by the enemy's breast-work, with 
the French soldier attending him. Mr. Peyton then 
called aloud, * Captain Ochterlony, I am glad to 
see you have at last got under protection. Beware 
of that villain, who is more barbarous than the sav- 
ages. God bless you, my dear captain. I see a 
party of Indians coming this way, and expect to be 
murdered immediately.' A number of those barba- 
rians had for some time been employed on the left, 
in scalping and pillaging the dying and the dead, 
that were left upon the field of battle ; and above 
thirty of them were in full march to destroy Mr. Peyr 
ion. This gentleman knew he had no mercy to ex- 
pect; for, should his life be spared for the present, 
they would have afterwards insisted upon sacrificing 
him to the manes of their brethren whom he had 
slain ; and in that case, he would have been put to 
death by the most cxcrutiating tortures. Full of this 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD \riD QUEBEC. 267 

idea, he snatched up his musket, and, notwithstand- 
ing his broken leg, ran above forty yards without halt- 
ing; and feeling himself now totally disabled, and 
incapable of proceeding one step further, he loaded 
his piece, and presented it to the two foremost In- 
dians, who stood aloof, waiting to be joined by their 
fellows : while the French, from their breast-works, 
kept up a continual fire of cannon and small arms 
upon this poor, solitary, maimed gentleman. In this 
uncomfortable situation he stood, when he discerned 
at a distance, a Highland officer, with a party of his 
men, skirting the plain towards the field of battle. 
He forthwith waved his hand in signal of distress, 
and being perceived by the officer, he detached 
three of his men to his assistance. These brave 
fellows hastened to him through the midst of a ter- 
rible fire, and one of them bore him off on his 
shoulders. The Highland officer was Captain Mac- 
donald, of Colonel Frazer's battalion ; who, under- 
standing that a young gentleman, his kinsman, had 
dropped on the field of battle, had put himself at the 
head of this party, with which he penetrated to the 
middle of the field, drove a considerable number of 
the French and Indians before him, and finding his 
relation still unscalped, carried him off in triumph. 
Poor Captain Ochterlony was conveyed to Quebec, 
where, in a few days, he died of his wounds. After 
the reduction of that place, the French surgeons 
who attended him, declared that, in all probability, 
he would have recovered of the two shots he had 



268 TOUR BETVVEEr/ HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

received in his breast, had he not been mortall/ 
wounded in the belly, by the Indian's scalping 
knife. 

" As this very remarkable scene was acted in 
sight of both armies, General Townshend, in the 
sequel, expostulated with the French officers upon 
the inhumanity of keeping up such a severe fire 
against two wounded gentlemen, who were disa- 
bled, and destitute of all hope of escaping. They 
answered, that the fire was not made by the regu- 
lars, but by the Canadians and savages, whom it 
was not in the power of discipline to restrain." 



EXCURSION TO THE FALLS OF CHAUDIERE. 

Oct. 8. — With our faithful Gouvan, and our com- 
fortable calash, we crossed the St. Lawrence about 
the middle of the day. We had come down to the 
wharf much earlier, and waited two hours for the 
boat, which was detained on the other side, at the 
command of a party of the officers of justice, who 
had gone over to whip a culprit; at length, a great 
company of them returned in the boat, with their 
badges, and bringing with them the miserable man. 
As usual elsewhere, in such cases, it excited and 
gratified the mob, but the disgraced and chastised 
offender, wore an aspect very different from the 
consequential air of the constables, or from the grin- 
ning insolence of the populace. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 269 

Arrived on the opposite shore, we soon ascended 
the steep heights of Point Levi — saw where Gene- 
ral Monckton erected his batteries, to bombard the 
city, previous to the unsuccessful battle at Montmo- 
renci — and enjoyed a brilliant and new view of Que- 
bec, and of its environs — the fortifications and pre- 
cipices appearing particularly grand from this eleva- 
tion. 



BESCRIPTION OF THR VIGNETTE. {See title JpOge.) 

VIEW OF QUEBEC FROM POINT LEVI. 

No position, in which we were placed, afforded 
us so impressive a view of the rock of Quebec, and 
particularly of its caatellaitd appearance, as this from 
the summit of Point Levi. After the prints that 
have been already described, this will be readily 
intelligible. The distance is about one mile. On the 
extreme left, is a glimpse of the heights and plains 
of Abraham — on the extreme right, the hills about 
Beauport and Montmorenci. Immediately before 
us, is the rock of Quebec; and the extent of the 
part that is seen, is about one mile : nearly the 
whole of it is, literally, a naked rocky preci- 
pice, almost black, and composed of enormous 
strata of slate and limestone, very rude, both on 
account of their natural contortions, and the effects 
of blasting, and of other forms of violence upon 
them. On the summit of the rock, on the left where 



270 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

it is three hundred and forty-five feet high, is the 
citadel, standing on Cape Diamond ; some way to 
the right of this, where the rock decHnes considera- 
bly in height, appears the castle of St. Louis, (more 
distinctly exhibited in print 6.) Still further to the 
right, and scarcely distinguishable among the build- 
ings, is the Prescot gate, at the top of Mountain 
street, which comes obliquely up from the lower 
town, and affords the only communication on this 
side of the rock. Beyond the gate, on the left, is 
seen the English Episcopal Cathedral, and, to the 
right, the Roman Catholic Cathedral, the parliament 
house, the seminary, &;c. and, in frost of these last, 
is the wall of the city, with embrasures and cannon, 
forming the grand battery, which occupies a lower 
level, or natural platform of the rock, here about 
two hundred and thirty feet high. 

At the foot of the rock, is the lower town, and, if 
we add to it that part exhibited from Montraorenci, 
(print 8,) we have then very nearly the whole of 
the lower town ; it may be added, that print 8, and 
this vignette, in connexion, exhibit nearly the whole 
of the rock of Quebec. Nearly on the extreme left 
of the rock, at the foot of Cape Diamond, in the 
lower towu, is the place wliere General Montgome- 
ry was slain, on the morning of December 31, 1775, 
and, on the riji;iit, at the foot of the rock, or grand 
battery, is the treet where General Arnold's party 
were defeated and captured, on the same occasion. 



TOUR BETWEEN HABTPOHD AND QUEBEC. 271 

This vignette is the only print in this volume, that 
is not original. It is common at Quebec, on bank 

bills, and, Mr. W , finding it so very exact a 

representation of the fine scene, which we contem- 
plated from Point Levi, adopted, and copied it, with 
some slight variations. The engraver has given it 
still greater precision, by reference to the view of 
Quebec, on Colonel Bouchette's topographical map 
of Lower Canada. 



* 



The villages through which we passed, were not 
30 well built as Beauport ; a larger proportion of the 
houses were constructed of logs, and the people ap- 
peared not in so good circumstances ; but still they 
were comfortable. 

The road to Montmorenci was rough; that over 
which we were now passing was smooth, and, com- 
pared with any other roads that we had seen in Can- 
ada, it was very fine. We passed through a large 
settlement, sustained principally by the great lumber 
establishment of Mr. Caldwell, and soon arrived at 
the mouth of the Chaudiere river, over which we 
were ferried. 

During our whole ride from Point Levi, we had 
been gratified by a succession of fine views; the 
river — the opposite shores, precipitous in almost 
every direction — the heights of Abraham — Cape 
Diamond, and the upper and lower town — the 



272 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEe. 

slopes of Beauport, and the heights of Montmorenci 
— the Isle of Orleans, and the bosom of the river- 
some of these features were constantly, either in 
prospect, or in retrospect; and we saw many scenes 
which would have been well worthy of the pencil. 
Among these, one was selected, of which the an- 
nexed print is a representation. 

PRINT NO. 9. 

This scene, which we thought not to be ex- 
ceeded in beauty by any that we saw in Canada, 
was sketched from the left bank of the Chaudiere 
river, at its mouth. Our road from Point Levi, con- 
ducted us to the foot of the precipice of rock, which 
is seen on the opposite side of the Chaudiere ; and, 
while a larger boat was getting ready to convey over 
carriages and horses, Mr. W. had the good fortune 
to cross first, in a small boat, and occupied the few 
moments, before the rest of us arrived, in securing 
the outlines of this grand and beautiful prospect. 

It was seen by the mildest, softest light, of an 
Indian summer afternoon — not more than two hours 
before sun-setting ; and there was a mellowness in 
the tints, especially of the remoter objects, which, 
notwithstanding the grandeur of some of the fea- 
tures of the landscape, excited still stronger percep- 
tions of beauty. These impressions were heighten- 
ed by contrast, with the deep black gulf, immediate- 
ly below the observer, and a little to the right. — 



TOVR BETWEEN HARTFORD AN© QUEBEC. 273 

This is the mouth of a very considerable river, the 
Chaudiere, which here, coming from the south- 
cast, pours its black waters into the deep green St. 
Lawrence, and is so imprisoned between very ab- 
rupt, precipitous shores, principally of rock,* but 
overhung in part by forest, that, from the high bank 
where the view was taken, only a part of the river 
is seen. Some idea of the height of these banks 
will be gained, by comparison with the ships, which 
here lie securely anchored in the mouth of the 
Chaudiere ; they are European ships, in quest of 
lumber, and appeared to be generally of between 
two and three hundred tons burden. 

On the right, at the distance of six or seven 
miles, we see Point Levi ; in the middle of the ex- 
treme distance, are the hills about Montmorenci, 
distant about twelve miles ; on the smooth expanse 
of the river between, numberless ships are seen to 
repose, surrounded and tinged, by the peculiarly 
attempered light, of what I presume pamier5 would 
call a perfect Claude Lorrain sky. On the left, is 
Quebec, with its citadel, built on Cape Diamond, 
and nearer, a glimpse of a part of the plains of 
Abraham, with some of the Martello towers. The 
distance is about six miles, and the bearing nearly 
north-east by north ; the distance by the road is 
nine miles. 

* The rock on the opposite shore, is extremely well characteri- 
zed gray icacke, ("the gray wacke of Werner.) 

24 



274 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND (QUEBEC, 



After crossing the Chaudiere, our road became 
more rough, and was evidently much less frequent- 
ed. In mounting the bank from the Chaudiere, it 
was so steep, that it was with difficulty the horse 
dragged up the empty calash. 

Somewhat less than two miles from the falls, we 
turned into the fields, and, at a farm-house, obtain- 
ed a French Canadian to act as our guide through 
scenes, which, we were assured, would, to stran- 
gers, soon become quite a labyrinth. It was not 
long before we were obliged to leave our calash, 
and proceed on foot, when, crossing a small river, 
"we entered a forest, where an obscure cart path, 
soon dwindled into a foot path, which we pursued 
over a rugged and unpleasant variisty of surface. 

The afternoon was very hot, and we were much 
fatigued, but our journey was rendered less irksome 

by the society of Mr. H d, an interesting young 

Hibernian, who h^d accompanied us from Quebec. 

Owing to our detention at the ferry, it was nearly 
sun-set when we arrived at the falls, and we were 
too much hurried to enjoy the Chaudiere quite at 
our leisure, as we yesterday did the Montmo- 
renci. 

The Chaudiere is a river of considerable magni- 
tude, but, owing to its numerous rapids, falls, and 
various obstructions, it is scarcely navigable, even 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOKD AND Q,UEBEC. 273 

for canoes. It rises from the Lake Megantic, near 
the American territory : its general width is from 
four hundred to six hundred yards, and its course 
is more than one hundred miles long. The banks 
are, in general, high, rocky, and steep, " the bed 
rugged, and much contracted by rocks, jutting from 
the sides, that occasion violent rapids."* 

Among the falls in this river, those which we 
had come to visit are the most considerable. 

Salient points of rock narrow the river so much, 
that its breadth does not exceed four hundred feet, 
and the descent is estimated at one hundred and 
thirty.* Enormous masses of rock lie on the shore, 
contiguous to the falls, and, by similar masses, the 
cataract is divided into three parts, which reunite, 
before they plunge into the abyss at the bottom. 

Ledges of clay slate, alternating with gray wacke 
slate, and red slate, here form the natural dam, over 
which the water is precipitated. I saw no granite, 
as Lieutenant Hall mentions in his travels ; and, as 
the region is a transition one, I doubt whether he 
has not fallen into a mistake on this point. 

We emerged from the deep gloom of the forest, 
exactly at the place v/h.ere the cataract becomes 
visible, although the sound produced by it, (at a 
distance scarcely audible,} had been for some time 
rapidly increasing on the ear. 

This cataract is grand, and wild, and turbulent, 
roaring, and dashing, and foaming over its irregular 

* Bouchetto, 



276 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD ANT) QUEBEC 

ban ier— current encountering current, and all 
plunging into a restless whirlpool, boiling with in- 
cessant agitation ; thence, undoubtedly, its French 
name of the Pot, or boiling Cauldron. 

Colonel Bouchette has given the following accu- 
rate sketch of these falls : — "The continual action 
of the water, has worn the rock into deep excava- 
tions, that give a globularligure to the revolving bod- 
ies of white foam, as they descend, and greatly in- 
crease the beautiful effect of the fall; the spray 
thrown up, being quickly spread by the wind, pro- 
duces, in the sun-shine, a most splendid variety of 
prismatic colors. The dark hued foliage of the 
woods, that on each side press close upon the mar- 
gin of the river, forms a striking contrast with the 
snow-like effulgence of the falling torrent ; the hur- 
ried motion of the flood, agitated among the rocks 
and hollows, as it forces its way towards the St. 
Lawrence, and the incessant sound, occasioned by 
the cataract itself, form a combination that strikes 
forcibly upon the senses, and amply gratifies the 
curiosity of the admiring spectator." 

The. falls of the Chaudiere are, by many, con- 
sidered as superior to those of the Montmorenci ; 
but, although vastly grander, on account of their 
width, and the great quantity of water, they did not 
strike u«, as having such peculiar beauties, and as 
differing so much from common cataracts ; that of 
Montmorenci is probably without a parallel in 
North-America, 



TOUR BETWEEN. HARTFORD AND QtrEDEC. 277 



The Chaudiere is interesting, from its connexion 
with a projected road* to the United States. The 
Canadian settlements on the river du Loup, are 
seventy miles from the nearest American settle- 
ments on the Kennebec, and only twenty from the 
American line. A mountainous ridge intervenes — 
it is quite wild, but is intersected by numerous 
rivers and streams, and would, without doubt, afford 
practicable passes for roads. A mutual good un- 
derstanding between the contiguous countries, would 
soon effect the object; indeed, Massachusetts, be- 
fore the late war, appointed commissioners for the 
purpose of making a road to the height of land: 
This will probably be effected at a future, and not 
very distant period, and will bring Quebec within 
a distance of no more than two hundred miles by- 
land, from Hallowel, on the Kennebec ; and thence 
to the ocean, the communication is uninterrupted. 
By this road, it will be only three hundred and 
seventy miles to Boston. From Quebec, there is 
already an excellent road for fifty miles up the 
Chaudiere, and a tolerable one to the settlements 
on ihe river du Loup.* 



» 



* It -was by this route, that General Arnold's party, in 1775, 
penetrated to Quebec. 

t Bouchette. 

24* 



278 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

It was eight o'clock, and quite dark, before, on 
our return, we reached the ferry, at Point Levi ; 
the steam-boat had stopped for the night, and no 
persuasions or temptations of ours could induce the 
boatmen to put out again. Fortunately for us, a 
party arrived soon after, who appeared to be persons 
of influence, belonging to Quebec, and they indu- 
ced the boatmen to go ; we fell into the train, and 
thus they did us good, probably without intend- 
ing it. 

Our late arrival gave us the pleasure of enjoying 
a night view of Quebec, from a position where, 
otherwise, we should not have seen it. The few 
lights that were visible, in the upper town, served 
merely to mark its outline. The lower town look- 
ed like the illuminated foot of a gloomy mountain. 
It was so dark, when we landed, that the dirt of 
the lower town could not be seen, and we wound 
our way up through the steep and intricate passages, 
rendered faintly visible by a few lamps, which shed 
just light enough to exhibit the antique fashion of 
the houses, and to render us sensible of the gioom 

of its narrow crowded streets. Mr. W rode, 

but I walked with Mr. H d, and just as we pass- 
ed through the perfectly dark arch of the Pres- 
cot gate, and issuing into the city, a flash, like light- 
ninjy, illuminated the upper town, and was instant- 
ly followed by the thunder of the evening gun. It 
needed but little help from imagination to make us 
believe that we were entering a fortress of the dark 



TOUR BETWEExN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 279 

ages, and the grand flourish of martial music, which 
immediately burst upon our ears, with the full swell 
and deep intonation of bugles, clarionets, and trum- 
pets, and other wind instruments, was well adapted 
to increase the illusion. The imperfect light 
served to magnify the size of the place d'armes, 
or military parade, in which we were arrived, and 
we hastened to the opposite side of it, contiguous 
to the barracks, (formerly the College of the Jesu- 
its.) Here we found the band, consisting of about 
twenty Germans, who continued to play for some 
time, and seemed as much gratified with their own 
music, as if it had possessed, for them, the charm 
of novelty. 



PLAINS OF ABRAHAM. 

I have several times had occasion to mention that 
the weather has been very fine, since we have been 
in Canada. It has been particularly so, since our 
arrival at Quebec, and the thermometer has been 
at summer heat, or even above, so that our excur- 
sions up and down the streets of this mountainous 
city, and over its environs, has been sometimes 
very fatiguing. 

On one of the fine mornings, we drove out 
through the magnificent gale of St. Louis, to the 
celebrated plains of Abraham, for no one would 
leave Quebec, without visiting the ground on which 
was fought the battle, that decided the fate of Can- 



280 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

ada, and ultimately terminated the empire of the 
French in North-America. 

There are probably few scenes of warfare, which 
are more intelligible than those in this vicinity. It 
is rery obvious, (after becoming acquainted with 
the peculiarities of the place,) that any army that is 
to act against Quebec, must encounter very uncom- 
mon ditliculties. We have already had occasion 
to advert to some of them, while speaking of the 
scenes that occurred at Montmorenci. 

The unsuccessful termination of that affair, evin- 
ced, that nothing was to be hoped from any addi- 
tional efforts in that quarter. The season was al- 
ready far advanced — the expected co-operation 
from General Amherst, by the way of Lake Cham- 
plain, and from General Johnson, through lake On- 
tario, had not been realized, and it became abso- 
lutely necessary to attempt something decisive, as 
the season would soon compel the English to aban- 
don the campaign. The camp at Montmorenci was 
therefore broken up, and on the sixth of Septem- 
ber, the troops were embarked, and transported up 
the river; they were landed for a season, at Point 
Levi, and refreshed on the southern shore, but after 
some days, again went on board, and were convey- 
ed three leagues above the city. General Mont- 
calm dispatched a corps of observation after them, 
consisting of one thousand five hundred men, under 
General Bougainville, but still maintained his sta- 
tion with the main army, at Beauport. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 2 81 

On the twelfth of September, one hour after 
midnight, General Wolfe, with his army, leaving 
the ships, embarked in boats, and silently dropped 
down with the current, intending to land a league 
above Cape Diamond, and thus to gain the heights 
of Abraham. But, owing to the rapidity of the 
current, they fell below their intended place, and 
disembarked at what is now called Wolfe's cove, 
a mile, or a mile and a half, above the city. The 
operation was a most critical one — they had to 
navigate in silence, down a rapid stream — to hit 
upon the right place for a landing, which in the 
dark, might be easily mistaken — the shore was 
shelving, and the bank to be ascended was steep 
and lofty, and scarcely practicable, even without 
opposition. Doubtless, it was this combination of 
circumstances, which lulled the vigilance of the 
wary and discerning Montcalm : he thought such 
an enterprise absolutely impracticable, and there- 
fore had stationed only sentinels and picket guards 
along this precipitous shore. 

Indeed, the attempt was, in the greatest danger 
of being defeated by an occurrence, which is very 
interesting, as marking much more emphatically, 
than dry official accounts can do, the very great 
delicacy of the transaction. 

One of the French sentinels, posted along the 
shore, challenged the English boats in the customa- 
ry military language of the French, '*Qi« vit !'' who 
goes there ! to which a Captain of Frazer's regiment, 



282 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEe. 

who had served in Holland, and was familiar with 

the French language and customs, promptly replied, 
"/a France.'''' The next question was much more 

embarrassing, for the sentinel demanded ^^ a quel 
regiment .^" " to what regiment." The Captain who 
happened to know the name of one of the regiments 
which was up the river, with Bougainville, promptly 
rejoined, " de la Reine,'''' — " the Queen's." The sol- 
dier immediately replied, ^^ passe,'''' for he concluded 
at once, that this was a French convoy of provisions, 
which, as the English had learned, from some de- 
serters, was expected to pass down the river to 
Quebec. The other sentinels were deceived in a 
similar manner; but one, less credulous than the 
rest, running down to the water's edge, called out, 
" Pourquoi est ce que vous ne parlez plus haut?" 
"Why dont you speak louder?'' The same cap- 
tain, with perfect self-command, replied, " Tai toi, 
nous, serons, entendues !" " Hush, we shall be over- 
heard and discovered."* The sentry satisfied with 
this caution retired. The British boats were on 
the point of being fired into, by the captain of one 
of their own transport ships, who, ignorant of what 
was going on, took them for French ; but General 
Wolfe perceiving a commotion on board, rowed 
along side in person, and prevented the firing which 
would have alarmed the town, and frustrated the 
enterprize. General Wolfe, although greatly re- 
duced by a fever, to which a dysentery was super- 

* SmoUet, V©1. v. p. 56. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 283 

added, was nevertheless the first man to leap 
ashore. The rugged precipices, full of projections 
of rocks and of trees, and shrubs growing every 
where among the cliffs, into which the bank was 
broken, presented a most forbidding appearance, 
and General Wolfe familiarly speaking to an officer 
who stood by, said, " I don't believe there is any 
possibility of getting up, but you must do your en- 
deavour." There was only a narrow path, leading 
obliquely up the hill; this had been rendered by 
the enemy 'impassable, in consequence of being 
broken up by cross ditches, and there was besides 
an entrenchment at the top, defended by a captain's 
guard.* This guard was easily dispersed, and the 
troops then pulled themselves up by taking hold of 
the boughs and stumps of the trees and of the pro- 
jections of the rocks. 

This precipice, (which may be in different places, 
from one hundred fifty to two hundred feet high,) 
is still very rude and rugged, but probably much 
less so than in 1759; it can now be surmounted, 
without very great diftjculty, by men who are un- 
molested. 

Wolfe staked all, upon a very hazardous adven- 
ture; had he been discovered prematurely, through 
a spy, a deserter, or an alarmed sentry, his army 

* A private soldier belonging to this guard, and named La 
Baume, who was shot through the thigh on this occasion, was 
lately living on the River Sorel, and may be still alive — he was 
sentinel in the path. — (Private communication from Canada, Jan, 
25, 1824.) 



284 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

would have been inevitably lost; but having gained 
the heights, he formed his troops, and met the ene- 
my in good order. 

The plains of Abraham lie South and West of 
Quebec, and commence the moment you leave the 
walls of the city. They are a very elevated tract 
of ground; this must of course be the f^cl, as they 
are on the summit of the heights which terminate at 
the river; they are nearly level — free from trees and 
all other obstacles, and I presume were nearly so* 
at the time of the battle. Our military friend, Cap- 
tain , with true professional feeling, remarked, 

that it was "a fine place for a battle.'*'' I went to 
the brink of the precipice, where my guide assured 
me that Wolfe and the army came up; a foot path, 
much trodden, leads through low bushes to the spot. 
I presume, that five hundred men, posted on this 
edge, would have repelled the whole army. 

It was about an hour before the dawn, that the 
army began to ascend (he precipice, and by day 
light, they were formed and in perfect preparation, 
to meet the ettemy. 

The Marquis de Montcalm, was no sooner in- 
formed, that the English troops were in possession 
of the heights of Abraham, than he prepared to 
fight them, and for this purpose marched his army 
across the Charles, from his entrenchments at 
Beauport, and between nine and ten o'clock the two 
armies met, face to face. Montcalm's numbers 
were nearly the same as those of the English army, 

* Except perhaps on their confines. 



TOUR BETWEEN UAKTFORD ANJJ tlUEUEC. 285 

but nearly half of his troops were Indians and Ca- 
nadians, while the whole of Wolfe's were disciplin- 
ed corps of the best description. The French 
general could not now, as at Montmorenci, avail 
himself of the cover of entrenchments, behind 
which undisciplined troops, especially if skilled in 
marksmanship, have often repelled the assaults of 
veterans. 

Montcalm made, however, the best possible dis- 
position of his troops — apportioning his regulars, in 
such distinct bodies, along the line, as to support 
the irregulars, in the most effectual manner. In front, 
among the cornfields and bushes, he placed one 
thousand five hundred of his best marksmen, prin- 
cipally Indiansand Canadians, whose destructive fire 
was patiently borne by the British lincj* but they 
reserved their own till the enemy, whose main body 
they perceived rapidly advancing, was within forty 
yards, when it was poured in upon the French, 
and continued with such deadly etfect, that it could 
not be withstood. The French fought bravely, but 
they wore broken, and notwithstanding one or two 
efforts to make a stand, and renew the attack, they 
were so successfiilly pushed by the British bayonet, 
and hewn down by the Highland broad sword, that 
their discomfiture was complete. The battle was 
particularly severe on the French left, and the Eng- 
lish right. This ground is very near the St. Law- 

* The adyanced guards had exchanged sho's for some hours 
before. 

25 



286 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

rence, and but a little distance in front of the cita- 
del, and all the events that passed there, nnust have 
been distinctly seen by those on the walls of Que- 
bec. It must have been a most interesting spec- 
tacle, and we can easily enter into the feelings of 
the American French, who viewed their country 
and their city, and their tiresides and homes, as in- 
volved in the issue of this battle. With what emo- 
tions then, must thej'havc seen their defenders, not 
only falling in the ranks, but driven by the furious 
onset of the enemy, to the walls of the city, where 
they were slaughtered by the bayonet and broad 
sword, on the very glacis, and in the ditches, im- 
mediately under their eyes. About one thousand 
of the French were killed and wounded, and more 
than half that number of the English, and it is 
thought that the French army would have been to- 
tally destroyed, if the city had not opened its gates, 
to receive a part, and if another part had not taken 
refuge in the works over the St. Charles. 

Montcalm was on the French left, and Wolfe on 
the English right, and here they both fell in the 
critical moment that decided the victory. Wolfe, 
early in the action, received a bullet in his wrist, but 
he bound it around with his handkerchief, and con- 
tinued to encourage his troops ; soon after, another 
ball penetrated his groin, but this wound, although 
much more severe, he concealed, and persevered, 
till a third bullet pierced his breast. It was not till 
that moment, that he submitted to be carried into 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 287 

the rear of the line : he was no longer able to stand, 
and leaned his head upon the shoulderof a lieuten- 
ant, who sat down for that purpose — when, being 
aroused by the distant sound of " they fly — they 
fly," he eagerly ^sked, "who fly?" and being told 
it was the French, he replied, then " I die happy." 
He asked to be sustained on his feet, that he might 
once more behold the field, but his eyes were al- 
ready swimming in death, his vision was gone, and 
he expired on the spot. This death has furnished 
a grand and pathetic subject for the painter, the 
poet, and the historian, and undoubtedly (consider- 
ed as a specimen of mere military glory,) it is one 
of the most sublime that the annals of war afford. 
From my earliest childhood, I had ardently wished 
to see the plains of Abraham, and to stand on the 
place where Wolfe expired. To-day I enjoyed that 
pensive satisfaction, and easily passed in imagina- 
tion, from the quiet and security in which we saw 
these beautiful plains, to the tremendous collision 
of ten Uiousand men in arms. 

A round stone of red granite, four or five feet in 
circumference by two or three in diameter — not a 
fixed rock, but a loose stone, marks the spot where 
Wolfe expired in the moment of victory. This stone 
was placed here thirty years after the battle*— and is 
one of the four stones arranged in a meridian line by 
the surveyor general of Canada, in 1790, for the pur- 
pose of adjusting the instruments used in the public 

*Bouchette. 



288 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

surveys of land. This stone has been so much round- 
ed, by having portions detached by visitors, that it 
was with the utmost difficulty I could knock 
off a small piece. Fortunately, the entire stone 
is too large to be carried away, and it cannot be 
broken to pieces, except by gunpowder. 

A fine mounument to Lord Nelson, graces the 
market place in Montreal — but there is no monu- 
ment to Wolfe, even on the spot where he fell. 

When I expressed to an English officer, my sur- 
prise at this omission, he reminded me, (what in- 
deed might have been very obvious upon a little re- 
flection,) that the feelings of a French population 
were not to be forgotten, and, that such a monument 
might be offensive to them.* 

The victorious hero has engrossed the plaudits of 
the world, but Montcalm deserved as much com- 
mendation as Wolfe. Except the massacre at Fort 
William Henry, (which, however, it is said he ex- 
erted himself, although unsuccessfully, to prevent,) 
I know of no other imputation on his memory ; and 
in talent, military skill, and personal courage, and 
devotion to his king and country, he was in no way 
inferior to his rival. He survived long enough to 
write a letter, with his own hand, to the English 

* Nearly opposite to our lodgings in St. Juhn-street, is the only 
monument to Wolfe, which we saw in Quebec. It is a statue, I 
believe, of wood, handsomely carved, and about as large as life ; 
it is in tlie military costume of that day, and is said to be a good 
likeness of Wolfe. It stands in a niche, in the angle of a house, 
or shop, and exposed to the weather. 



TOUa BETWEEN HAUTFORD AND QUEBEC, 289 

General, recommending the French prisoners to 
his humanity, and, when informed that his wound 
was mortal, he expressed great satisfaction that he 
should not live to see the fall of Quebec, which 
capitulated five days after. Montcalin's second in 
command, General Senezergus, also died of his 
wounds. 

Had Montcalm succeeded in preserving Canada 
from conquest, and had Quebec been successfully 
defended by his valor, his fame would have been 
extolled as much as that of Wolfe now is. 

This victory was, in its consequences, of immense 
importance. It eventually terminated a long course 
of bloody wars ; it gave permanent peace and secu- 
rity to the English colonies, rescued their vast fron- 
tier from all the horrors of savage warfare, and 
even contributed largely to the general pacification 
of Europe. It is one of the great epochs of Amer- 
ican history. The French dominion in America, 
utterly incompatible with the repose or safety of 
the English settlements, and, after enduring one 
hundred and fifty years, was soon to be finally ter- 
minated. Thus a providence, probably at the time 
unseen and unobserved, by any of the parties, was 
preparing the way for American independence. 

No American can, therefore, contemplate with 
indifference, the spot where Wolfe fell, and somu 
gallant blood was spilt. 

The French had still a powerful army, and some 
naval force about the city, and in the ensuing 

25* 



290 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 

spring, Monsieur Levi approached it from Mon- 
treal, for the purpose of recovering it from the Eng- 
lish. General Murray, who commanded in Que^ 
bee, marched out to meet him, and, on the 28th of 
April, 1760, a bloody battle occurred, three miles 
above the city, at Sillery ; the English army, very 
much inferior in numbers, to the French, was se- 
verely defeated, with the loss of one thousand men, 
and the French, it is said, suffered still more. The 
English retreated into Quebec, to which the French 
now laid siege, and, very possibly, would have re- 
duced it, but for the arrival of an English squadron, 
with reinforcements, when they abandoned the 
seige, and retired up the river. 

How large a portion of the history of modern 
Europe is occupied by the wars of England and 
France ! What rivers of each other's blood, as 
well as of the blood of other nations, have not these 
rival empires shed ! Heroic, enlightened, refined, 
learned, enterprising, both claiming the name of 
christian; had their efforts been equally directed 
to promote the welfare of their own respective do- 
minions, of each other, and of the world, by culti- 
vating the arts of peace, and the virtues of civil life, 
what good might they not have done! But like 
ferocious beasts of prey, they have hunted each 
other out of every niche and corner of the globe; 
every colony, every little cluster of traders, or of 
agriculturalists — every wan Jering bark, if belonging 
to the rival power, has been exposed to these cruel 
assaults. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 291 

In which quarter of the world, on what ocean or 
sea, in what country, on what island, or on what 
coast, of remotest India or America, have they not 
opened each other's veins, till the earth cries out 
upon them, for blood unrighteously shed ? 



FORTIFICATIONS OF QUEBEC. 

The strongest town in America, and one of the 
strongest in the world, demands a brief notice in 
this respect, although it will be such, as one unskil- 
led in military affairs, can give. 

It is quite obvious, from what has been said, that 
Quebec is possessed of great natural advantages. 
The lofty perpendicular precipices of naked rock, 
which, on the south and east, separate a great part 
of the lower town from the upper, constitute, in 
themselves, on those sides, an insurmountable bar- 
rier ; the river Charles, with its shallow waters, and 
low flats, of sand and mud, drained almost dry, by 
the retiring of the tide, forms an insuperable impe- 
diment to the erection of commanding works, or to 
the access of ships on the east and north, not to 
mention that all this ground is perfectly commanded, 
by the guns from the upper town. The only vul- 
nerable point is on the west and south, from the 
plains of Abraham. Cape Diamond, the highest 
point of the town, it is true, is rather more elevated 
than any part of the plains,* but the highest ground 

* Only ten or fifteen feet. — Bouchetle. 



292 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEREC. 

on the plains of Abraham, (the place which is called 
Ferguson's house,) "connmands most of the works 
on this side of the town ;" besides, there is no bar- 
rier of rock, no river, ravine, marsh, or other natu- 
ral obstacle, to hinder an approach upon this side ; 
this is the vulnerable side of Quebec, and here, 
therefore, it is fortified with the most anxious care. 

" The distance across the peninsula, from one 
river to the other, in front of the line of fortification, 
is one thousand, eight hundred thirty-seven yards,"* 
or very nearly, one mile — the circuit within the 
walls, is two miles and three quarters — immediate- 
ly without, it is probably three miles, and the aver- 
age diameter is one thousand five hundred yards, 
or very nearly six sevenths of a mile. 

A complete wall of massy hewn stone, construct- 
ed with elegance, as well as strength, completely 
encircles the town, and is furnished with strong 
massy arches and gates, and with deep ditches. 

It reminded me, much more than any thing that 
I have seen, either in England, or in my own coun- 
try, of the strong places of the Netherlands, partic- 
ularly of Breda, and of Bergen op Zoom. 

The walls of Quebec vary much, in different 
parts, in height and thickness. Every where, how- 
ever, they are high enough to render escalade very 
difficult, and a breach almost hopeless. In the 
strongest parts, next to the plains of Abraham, they 

* Bouchette, 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 293 

appeared to me forty or fifty feet thick, and equally 
high. Even the lofty precipices of naked rock, are 
surmounted with a stone wall, and with cannon, and 
the highest points are crowned with towers, and dis- 
tinct batteries. In general, the curtains of the wall 
are looped for musketry, and projecting bastions 
present theirartillery towards the assailants, in every 
direction, and, of course, so as to rake the ditches. 
A military man at Quebec remarked to me, that, in 
storming a place, they preferred attacking the bat- 
tery or bastion, rather than the curtain, because 
the cross fire cuts down so many in the ditches. 

When we visited the plains of Abraham, we drove 
out and in by the gate St. Louis, where the wall 
appeared to be fifty feet thick, and nearly as high ; 
this was the judgment we formed, without enquiry 
— I need not say, without measurement.* A deep 
ditch succeeds, and then there is an exterior, but 
lower wall, and another ditch, both of which must 
be scaled, before the main wall can be approached. 
A storming party would be dreadfully exposed, 
while mounting this exterior wall. The avenue to 
the gate is bounded, on both sides, by a high wall, 
and makes several turns, in zigzag. At every turn, 
cannon point directly at the approaches ; and gen- 
erally, down every ditch, and in every possible di- 
rection, where the walls can be approached, great 
guns are ready to cut down the assailants. 

* We were afterwards informed by a British^officer, that actual 
measurement gave this result 



294 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUBBEC* 

I have sevenal limes remarked, that the promon- 
tory of rock, which constitutes the loftiest point of 
the upper (own, is called Cape Diamond, and that, 
upon this, is erected the famous citadel of Quebec. 
This is not, as one might suppose, a building, or 
castle, covered with a roof; it is open to the heav- 
ens, and differs from the rest of the works, only in 
being more elevated, stronger, and therefore more 
commanding.* 

The highest part of the citadel, is Brock's bat- 
tery, which is a mound, artifically raised, higher 
than every thing else, and mounted with cannon, 
pointing towards the plains of Abraham. It was 
named after General Brock, who fell at Queens- 
town, and was erected during the late war, about 
the time that Montreal was threatened, by Gen- 
erals Wilkinson and Hampton. This commands 
every part of the works on that side, and is intend- 
ed, I presume, besides the general objects of de- 
fence, to operate, in the last resort, on an enemy 
who may scale all the other walls. The citadel is 
forbidden ground, and, by rule, no person, not be- 
longing to the military, or the supreme government 
is admitted into it. 

By special favor, however, we enjoyed this grati- 
fication ; the sentry, at first, refused to let us pass, 
although under patronage whichcommanded his res- 
pect; but atlength, with much reluctance, he yielded. 

* As I saw it in 1C19, now (in 1824,) such important additions 
have bet n maJe frj tUe citadel, that I know not whether this part 
of the text is correct. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEnEO. 295 

This course of conduct is usual in such places, 
and may be judicious here, as preventing numerous 
and troublesome visits, but it appears very unneces- 
sary in a military point of view, for, the more the 
strength of the citadel is made known, the less dis- 
posed, I am persuaded, will any enemy be lo attack 
it. Commodore Bainbridge, during his recent vis- 
it here, (I understand,) was freely shown the citadel 
and every part of the fortifications; anti I heard a 
British officer say, that, in his view, it was quite ri- 
diculous to pursue any other course, and to pretend 
to any secrecy about the thing. Still, however, I 
suppose the officers to have orders from their supe- 
riors, not to introduce persons here, for the day af- 
ter we had been in the citadel, 1 was with two Brit- 
ish military men, of considerable professional and 
official influence, and, while they were showing me 
some apartments, contiguous to the citadel, 1 hinted 
a wish to see it, if it could be permitted, but was 
answered politely^ although decidedly^ that it could 
not. 1 did not tell them that I had already seenit.* 
Every other part of the fortifications may be free- 
ly visited by every body, but, on the side next to 
the St. Charles river, the sentry refused to permit 
me to approach the embrasure ; I wished to see how 
high the wall was at that place. 

* I understand, that now, (1824,) there is no longer aay seriou* 
difficulty in obtaining admission to see Cape Diamond. 



296 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

From the citadel,* the view of the river, of the 
town, and of the surrounding country, is, of course, 
extremely grand and beautiful, but, in this instance, 
the rapid advance of evening, rendered the distant 
objects indistinct. We were, however, very forci- 
bly struck with the formidable preparations, which 
seem on all sides, to render an attack upon the place 
a hopeless enterprise. Within the walls are nu- 
merous magazines, furnished with every implement 
and preparation, and more or less proof against the 
various missiles of war. Piles of cannon balls are 
every where to be seen, and, I presume there are 
some hundreds of heavy cannon mounted on the 
walls, and in the various defences. About forty 
acres of ground, within Cape Diamond, are reserved 
for military works.f 

Beyond the walls, on the plains of Abraham, are 
the four Martcllo towers, already mentioned ; they 
are solidly constructed of stone, and appear to be 
forty feet high, and, at the base, have probably a 
diameter not much inferior ; as they have cannon 
on their tops, they, of course, sweep the whole 
plain, and effectually command it; the particular 
object of their construction, was to prevent an ene- 
pay from occupying the high ground, on the plains 

* A new citadel is now erecting on Cape Diamond, as strong as 
the modern improvements in fortification can make it. (Private 
communication from Canada, Jan. 25. 1824.) 

t Bouchette. 



TOUR BETWEEN MARTFORU AND QUEBEC. 297 

of Abraham. These towers are very strong, on 
the side most remote from the town, and weaker on 
the side next to it, that they may be battered from 
it, should an enemy obtain possession of them. 

On the whole, as long as the river is in possession 
of those who defend the town, and as long as the 
latter is sufficiently furnished with men, and other 
means necessary to render its fortifications efficient, 
there appears little hope of taking it at all, and 
certainly not without such an expense of blood, as 
it is very painful to contemplate. 

An officer of the garrison informed us, that it 
took him one hour and a half, merely to visit all the 
sentinels on duty, upon the various stations on the 
walls; this appears to evince, that the walls cannot 
be much less than three miles in circuit; and the 
same military man gave it as his opinion, that it 
would require at least ten thousand men for a com- 
petent garrison. 

The cold is so intense in the winter nights, par- 
ticularly on Cape Diamond, that the sentinels can- 
not stand it more thanone hour,* and are relieved 
at the expiration of that time. 

It is in vain to attempt to conceal, that the Cana- 
dians, and the government, in their various defen- 

* And even, as it ia said, at much sborter intervals, in cases of 
the most extreme cold, reaching probably, almost or quite, to the 
freezing point of quicksilver. 

The present winter, 1823-4, the public prints inform us that the 
cold has reached 41 degrees below at Quebec. 

~ - ' 26 



298 TOUR BETWEE\ HARTFORD AND qUEBEC. 

ces, (and it is said that still more expensive works 
are in contemplation,*) have reference to danger 
from only one source. 

It is to be hoped that fhe attempt to take Quebec 
by force, will never again be made, for, if it has al- 
ready cost so much blood, with defences compara- 
tively weak, what would it not cost now ?f 



GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. 

The limited opportunities which I have enjoyed, 
of examining the geology of this vicinity, have led, 
rather to isolated, than to connected observations. 
It has not been in m}- power to ascertain the bear- 
ing and relations of these facts, and this I regret the 
more, as it is probable that interesting results would 
be obtained, by a more extended and connected 
survey. 

* We are recently informed, by the newspapers, that these new 
works are going on very rapidly. July, 1!J20. 

t Going into a book-store in Quebec, I observed in one of the 
Gazettes of the city, a p^iragraph, copied from a recent American 
paper, to this effect, that, if it should be ever desirable to take 
Quebec, it could, at any time, be easily done, in two months, at 
the point of the bayonet. Surely such a remark is indecent, with 
respect to a people, with whom we are now in amity ; and, to any 
one who has ever seen Quebec, it appears superlatively ridicu- 
Ibus, and only exposes us to contempt ; an effort to take the moon 
at the point of the bayonet, would be almost equally rational. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 299 

In speaking of the mouth of the Chaudiere river, 
r have already observed, that gray wacke forms the 
cliiFs on the eastern side. It has never before fallen 
to my lot, to observe this rock on so great a scale. 
It occurs in a schistose form, at the falls of the 
Chaudiere, and constitutes a principal part of the 
barrier, over which the torrent is precipitated. 

On the road from Point Levi to the Chaudiere 
river, and for several miles before we arrive at the 
latter, vast ledges of common gray wacke, rise above 
the surface of the ground, and form a continued 
chain of rocks, of a very peculiar physiognomy, and 
very diflerent from those rocks, with which 1 have 
heen most familiar. This gray wacke is of a most 
indubitable character, and varies from coarse to fine 
grained; in the coarsest kind, the individual por- 
tions are not larger than peas, and I have observed 
a very fine grained kind, with which they pave some 
of the streets in Quebec ; its grain is so small, as to 
be almost imperceptible. I did not learn whence 
it is brought. 

At Point Levi, the road up the precipice, from 
the river's edge, is cut with much labour, through 
cliffs of slate, very highly inclined — much contort- 
ed, and'containing imbedded limestone, which ap- 
peared to me like that of the transition class; but 
my examination was very hasty and slight. 

It is very probable that this formalion extends 
under the bed of the river, and substantially ap- 
pears again in the precipices of Quebec, which I 



300 TOVn BETWEEN' IIAItTFOllD A\J) QUEKEC'. 

found ail opportunity to examine with some atten- 
tion. 

The name of Cape Diamond, is derived from 
the fact, that what the common people every where 
call diamonds, or, in other woids rock crystals are 
found in this rock and at its foot. 

I walked around these precipices, with my ham- 
mer in my hand, and observed the crystals in their 
places ; they occur in veins, in argillite or slate, 
along with crystallized carbonate of lime. I passed 
through the gate, on the north east, and de- 
scended the oblique road, which leads to the lower 
town; this street is, in a manner, cut out of the 
rocky strata, and I had very good opportunities to 
observe them j I continued my examination around 
at the foot of the precipices beyond Cape Diamond, 
and almost to the plains of Abraham. 

The fortifications of Quebec stand principally 
upon, and are composed chiefly of slate rock and 
of the fetid limestone; the slate is highly inclined, 
and is sometimes remarkably twisted and irreg^ular 
in its arrangement; the colour is dark — almost 
black, and it is often fetid when struck. This is 
explained by its association with compact fetid 
limestone, which abounds in many parts of these 
ledges, and is replete with veins of white or slightly 
coloured calcareous spar — sometimes fibrous in its 
structure and sometimes distinctly crystallized. 1 
observed the same rocks appearing in the upper 
town, in various places, and especially where they 



TOUK BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 3QV 

were cutting a drain near the prison. Dr. Wright, 
the Inspector General of Hospitals at Quebec, was 
kind enough to show me a collection, which he is 
forming, of the rocks and minerals of the country, 
and among them were a good many specimens from 
Upper Canada. I was much gratified to see such a 
beginning in Quebec, and from the zeal and intelli- 
gence of Dr. Wright and of Dr. Bigsby* of the 
same department — may we not hope that we shall 
become much more extensively informed than now, 
as to the mineralogy and geology of the Canadas ,'* 

The very highly inclined position, sometimes al- 
most vertical, and the contorted structure of the 
slate of Quebec — with the abundance of perfectly 
limpid quartz crystals, occasionally an inch in 
length, that are sprinkled between the layers of 
slate, giving it often an elegimt appearance, seem to 
forbid our regarding it as secondary, notwithstand- 
ing its association with the black, compact, fetid 
limestone, and its bein» itself (occasionally at least) 
fetid, on percussion. I am told, that both the 
slate and the limestone, as well as strata of wacke, 
(gray wacke ?) are subordinate to gneiss mountains, 
which run east south-east, and east nonh-east dipping 
southerly at a very elevated angle. On the whole, 
as the slate is the prevailing rock, and as the region 
on tile other side of the St. Lawrence, is decidedly 
a transition formation, I am inclin^ to refer the 

* This summer acting with the commi?sioners of boundaries eli 
the great lakes. 

26* 



30i TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOUD AND QUEBEC. 

rock of Quebec to the same class. The crystals 
of quartz were formerly more abundant, and proba- 
bly, more beautiful, than at present. 

I found numbers however, that were not only . 
transparent and beautiful, but crystallized all around. 
As 1 was hammering upon a rock, to which I had 
climbed, so far up one of the precipices, that I was 
above ihechimnies of the houses, in the contiguous 
parts of the lower town, a man came running out, 
and with a French accent, and much vehement ges- 
ture and expostulation, conjured me to desist, un- 
less I meant to bury him and his house in ruins, by 
causing the rocks to fall. I saw no danger, as the 
rocks appeared tolerably firm, but of course desist- 
ed and came down. Indeed so large a number of 
the houses in the lower town are built against the 
foot of the precipice, or very near it, that the rocks 
look as if th' y might at any time fall and crush 
them ; it would seem as if they must of course do 
so, should any of ihem give way. We were inform- 
ed that a great mass fell, recently, and much en- 
dangered many houses, but happily missed themj 
one bouse is said to have been crushed last winter, 
but I did not hear that any life was lost. 

I e amined the rocks on the plains of Abraham, 
and particularly near where General Wolfe died, 
for there was an open quarry at that place ; they 
were slate of the same description with the preci- 
pices at Cape Diamond, and I observed no other 
OD the plains, and none in the rocks of the town^ 



TOUR BETWEEX HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 303 

but slate and the svvinestone ; these two stones 
are almost exclusively employed in building, and 
the walls as already observed, are constructed prin- 
cipally of them. 



NOTES ON THE MINERALOGY OF QUEBEC, 

Furnished by a Scientific Friend. 

The promontory on which stand the city of Que- 
bec, and its fortifications, to ihe south-east, is a near- 
ly perpendicular escarpment, varying in height 
from two hundred to three hundred and seventy feet. 
Towards the N and N. VV. it slopes in abrupt de- 
clivities for twelve or fifteen hundred yards, and ter- 
minates in the valley of the St. Charles by a long and 
somewhat shivered precipice, about ei;^hty feet high. 

The great body of this celebrated rock is brown- 
ish, or bluish black limestone, without lustre, of ve- 
ry conchoidal fracture, of variable hardness, of the 
sp. gr. 2,5 or 2.6 and effervescing on exposure to 
acids. 

It is more or less slaty : — the majority of its lam- 
inae are a foot thick, but many are quite shaly, when a 
degree of histre is observable. 

The strata are placed at an high angle with a 
9. E. dip; frequently they are vertical, as on the 
face of some parts of Cape Diamond ; and occa- 
sionally the dip is N. VV. The precipice at the 
west end of Sauk au Matelot Street in the lower 



304 TOWR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

town, exhibits some singular but not unprecedent- 
ed contortions in its layers. Two contiguous 
strata, (followed in a less degree by the surrounding 
ones) slowly open, and in the space of eight or ten 
yards rejoin each other leaving an oval interval some" 
yards broad, resembling the belly of a vein, — and 
filled with the black limestone of the locality, so 
traversed by veins of bitter spar that it is not possi- 
ble to trace in it any particular structure. Great 
disorder exists in other parts of this neighbourhood. 
Three hundred yards to the W. the strata runs S. E. 
and dip vertically; and on advancing still westward 
are found to have even a south-west inclination, "'i 
In the quarries of the suburbs of St. John, the 
direction and dip of the rock are obscured by an 
assemblago of what, or. a hasty visit, I am inclined 
to consider natural cleavages of great dimensions. 
These cleavages have often the high polish and 
metallic glaze of pottery — an appearance also ob- 
served on manv of those continuous sheets of rock, 
several luindre*! feet square, which form the face 
of the precipice overlooking the St. Lawrence, at 
the farther end of Champlam street. Their colors 
are black, brown and red. These smooth faces are 
not uncommon elsewhere, and are also frequently 
covered, in patches, with the black limestone, in 
doughy coatings, in high relieved, and extended 
limbs, as if they had flowed, lava-like, in a semi- 
fluid state. This is quite common in gray wacke, 
and;; is daily seen in the action of temporary tor- 



TOUn BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 3@5 

rents on sandy cliffs Laru;e masses of earth fall 
into the ravine, the streamlet, for the moment, tlows 
of the consistence of soft paste, overspreading the 
neighboring grounds, and on the outskirts of its in- 
fluence, consolidates, in branch-like prolongations, 
raised above the surface over which they ramify. 

Conglomerates and gray wacke are interleaved 
conformably with various parts of the rock of Que- 
bec ; but they are in very inconsiderable proportion 
to the whole mass. They are most numerous on 
the northern and northwestern side of the promon« 
tory : and at the place near Sault au Matelot Street, 
already noticed for the irregular disposition of its 
strata, the entire face of the precipice consists of a 
calcareous conglomerate, of rounded ash colored 
nodules of very various sizes, scatiered spari gly 
through a dark cement — the common rock proba= 
bly. It extends some hundred yards westward, 
and is lost in the body of the hill 

From Palace Gate, west, along the cliff over- 
hanging St. Roche, layers from one to twelve feet 
broad, of another species of puddingstone, are inter- 
posed between the strata of black limestone. Two 
are visible near Palace Gate and one in Major 
D'Estimauville's garden in the suburb of St. John. 
The matrix and its contents are in equal proportion, 
and are well mixed. The nodules are seldom so 
large as an inch square ; and are often rounded. 
The general colour is greyish brown. A disagree- 
able odour is perceptible on percussion. Fragments 



306 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AXl) (iUEBEC. 

of chlorite, and grains of iron pyrites are often imbed- 
ded in it. 

In the face of the precipice below, and to the east 
of Major D' Estimauville's g>rden, there is a large 
oval bed of this puddingstone contained in the stra- 
tified rock; — into which it penetrates in numerous 
veins. 

In St. John's suburbs, from this garden, about 
N. E. fivehundredyards (speaking loosely) a kind of 
puddiflgstone similar to the one first mentioned ap- 
J>€ars. It is twelve feet broad ; the nodules are ve- 
ry small, sparing and rounded. 

On the left of the foot of the first descent into St. 
Roche's from St John's Gate, opposite to Mr. 
Shepherd's excellent house, layers of light brown 
homogeneous limestone, of small breadth, alternate 
several times with the black species. Their tex- 
ture is indistinctly crystalline. 

The gray wacke is well defined, very compact, 
and makes its appearance in the ditch to the left of 
St. John's gate. By reason of its situation it is on- 
ly visible for 50 yards. It dips S. E. at a high an- 
gle, and is remarkable in being at one part 12 feet 
broad and at some distance from thence only six. 
Another stratum of gray wacke, I am informed, is 
to be seen onCape Diamond, in an excavation which 
is now filled with water. 

The accidental minerals of this limestone are as 
follows. T re are the white rhomboidal calcspar 
in large masses, and in veins of large size : — a fibrous 



TOUR BETVVEEX HAKTFOUD AND (QUEBEC. 307 

calcspar in mass, but without the lustre of satin spar: 
the cubic, rhoniboidal, pyramidal, and pearl spar 
crystals, variously modified, and lastly numerous 
clusters of opaque white capillary crystals, two thirds 
of an inch long at most, super-imposed on their ends, 
and radiating from a point in an extremely beautiful 
manner. They effervesce on exposure to acids. 
All these species occupy drusy cavities and the sur- 
face of the strata ; and are greatly intermixed with 
themselves and with the fine rock crystals which are 
found here in great abundance. Their form is the 
six sided prism with the ordinary pyramidal acu- 
minations. Tliey are often much flattened, and 
are seldom equiangular. The prism not unusually 
disappears, leaving a twelve sided crystal. They 
are not often imbedded, but usually super-im- 
posed, laterally or terminally. The crystals are 
single or agglutinated masses, being in the latter 
case full of rents and of a brown earthy matter, or 
in rare instances containing a drop of pale bitumin- 
ous oil. They are either colorless, with an ex- 
tremely high lustre, or of a smoke brown hue. 

Minute seams of coal, very light, jet black, shin- 
ing, have been met with in the cliff of the Grand 
Battery. 

A few drachms of a black pitchy matter are oc- 
casionally collected from the cavities of the rock — 
but it has not hitherto been examined. 

Some workmen, while blasting on Cape Dia- 
mond, laid open a small druse of calcspar accom- 



308 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD ANB QUEBEC, 

panied by two rudely crystallized masses of fluoi 
spar. I have not applied any tests ; but feel as- 
sured they are fluor. 

Helitrope is found loose in considerable quanti- 
ties on the outside of St. Louis' Gate — I have not 
seen it in place. It polishes excellently. 

I consider the Limestone of Quebec to belong 
to the transition class of rocks, from its composi- 
tion and structure, from its inclination, and from its 
being conformable to the vast transition formations, 
with which it is surrounded, excepting in the di- 
frection of Beauport. The altenations of common 
slate — grey wacke — quartz rock and chlorite slate, 
which constitute this intermediate order recline 
on the north upon mountains of gneiss, mica slate 
and various forms of granite, rocks which they 
again meet on the southern frontiers of Lower 
Canada. The horizontal lime stone, of Beauport 
and Montmorenci, is in all probability a projection 
or tongue of secondary rocks, extended from the 
formations of Montreal and the Ottawa ; with 
which they correspond in character, and with which 
I believe them to be connected in fact. 



DEATH OF GENERAL MONTGOMERY. 

Every American on visiting Quebec, of course, 
inquires for the place, wliere Montgomery and his 
associates fell. i his question 1 proposed many 
times, without being able to obtain a satisfactory an- 



COXjH between HARTFORD and QUEBEC. 309 

swer, but, in my mineralogical visit to the lower 
town, where I knew that the event occurred, I re- 
peated my inquiries, till 1 ascertained tlie street, 
which as described by historians, passes at the foot 
of Cape Diamond. 

Many persons in Quebec, know little or nothing 
of the event, and many more feel no interest in the 
topic. I inquired in vain, at several houses and 
shops, within a few hundred yards of the place, till 
at last, I was so happy as to find an individual, who 
appeared to be perfectly acquainted with the whole 
transaction, and from the precision and distinctness 
of his story, and the clear views he had of the 
ground, and of the event, I have no doubt that his 
information, as to the place, was correct. He was 
confident that he shewed me the exact spot where 
the barrier stood, from which the fatal shot was 
fired, and the precise place where Montgomery 
and his companions were cut down. It is 
immediately under Cape Diamond, and was, at that 
time, as it is now, a very narrow pass, between the 
foot of the impending precipice, and the shore; ves- 
sels then were moored to rings fixed in the rock, 
some of which rings still remain, although wharves 
have been since constructed at the water's edge ; 
now there is a road just wide enough for a cart ; it 
has been cut out of the solid rock. The American 
camp was on the plains of Abraham. Four points 
of attack were agreed on — two /ci/?^5 against the 
walls of the upper town, one at St. John's gate, and 

27 



310 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBE(J. 

the other near the citadel, while two real assaults, 
were to be directed against two other points, both 
in the lower town, but situated on opposite sides. 
General Arnold led a party from the plains of 
Abraham, around by the river Charles, and assault- 
ed the lower town on that side. In the mean time, 
General Montgomery approached under Cape Dia- 
mond. 

The pass at the foot of Cape Diamond, was 
probably, then much narrower and more difficult 
than at present. The attempt was made at five 
o'clock, on the morning of December 31, 1775, in 
the midst of a Canadian winter, and of a violent 
snow-storm, and of darkness. The path, narrow 
and difficult at best, was then so much obstructed 
by enormous masses of ice, piled on each other, as 
to render the way almost impassable.* Montgom- 
ery's party were therefore obliged to proceed in a 
narrow file, till they reached a picket block house, 
which formed the first barrier. The general assist- 
ed with his own hands, in cutting down and remov- 
ing the pickets, and the Canadian guard, stationed 
for its defence, having thrown away their arms, 
fled, after a harmless random fire. The next bar- 
rier was much more formidable ; it was a small bat- 
tery, whose cannon were loaded with grape shot, 
and as General Montgomery, with Captains Chees- 
man and Macpherson, the latter of whom was his 
aid, and others of the bravest of his party, were 

* Marshall. 



rOUB "BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 31 I 

pressing forward towards this barrier — a discharge 
of grape shot killed the general, and most of those 
near his person, and terminated the assault on 
that side of the town. It is said that this second 
barrier had also been abandoned, but that one or 
two persons returning to it, seized a slow match, 
and applied it to the gun, when the advancing party 
were not more than forty yards from it. This 
occurrence has been sometimes differently related. 
Some American gentlemen who were at Quebec 
about sixteen years since, saw a man, who asserted 
that he was the person who touched off the cannon, 
and what is very remarkable, he was a New-Eng- 
lander. He related, that the barrier was abandon- 
ed, and the party who had been stationed at it 
were in full flight ; but as it occurred to him, that 
there was a loaded cannon, he turned, and dis- 
charged it at random, and then ran. This anecdote 
I had from one of the gentlemen who conversed 
with this man. 

That there was some such occurrence, appears 
probable, and the following circumstances, having 
a similar bearing, were related to me by the person 
who shewed me this fatal ground. The spot may 
be known at the present moment, by its being 
somewhat farther up the river, than the naval depot, 
where great numbers of heavy cannon are now 
lying. The battery stood on the first gentle decliv- 
ity, beyond this pile of cannon, and the deaths hap- 
pened on the level ground, about forty yards still 



312 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

farther on. My informant stated, that the people 
in the block house, as he called it, loaded their 
cannon over night, and retired to rest. It so hap- 
pened, (and it was perfectly accidental,) that a 
captain of a vessel in the port, lodged in the block 
house that night. He was an intemperate man, half 
delirious even when most sober, and never minded 
any one, or was much listened to by others. Early 
©n the fatai morning, before light, he exclaimed, 

all of a sudden— "they are coming, I s r they 

are coming!" no one regarded him, but he got the 
iron rods, which they used to touch oflfthe cannon, 
heated them, and fired the pieces. 

Immediately, rockets were seen to fly into the 
air, which were signals to the party of Arnold, that 
all was lost. When light returned, General Mont- 
gomery, his aids, and many others, in the whole 
twenty-seven, (as he stated,) were found cither 
dead, or grievously wounded. 

Thus, 1 have had the melancholy satisfaction of 
seeing both where Wolfe and Montgomery fell. 
Had the latter succeeded, his enterprise would have 
been regarded as more gallant than even that of 
Wolfe. 

Probably the situation of the defences was very 
different then from what it is now ; at present, 
such an attempt would be perfectly desperate, and 
could deserve no name but rashness. 

The memory of the transaction appears, in a 
great measure, to have pagsed by, at Quebec, and 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND (QUEBEC. 313 

I can even conceive that, in twenty years more, it 
may be difficult to have the place accurately desig- 
nated. It would be easy now, with permission of 
the government, to have an inscription, cut upon 
the neighboring precipice of rock, which is not six 
feet from the place, and, I presume, were the re- 
quest properly preferred, no objection would be 
made. 

" All enmity to Montgomery expired with his 
life, and the respect to his private character pre- 
vailed over all other considerations ; his dead body 
received every possible mark of distinction from 
the victors, and was interred in Quebec, with all 

the military honors due to a brave soldier." 

" The most powerful speakers in the British Par- 
liament, displayed their eloquence in praising his 
virtues, and lamenting his fate. A great orator, 
and veteran fellow-soldier of his, in the late war, 
shed abundance of tears, whilst he expatiated on 
their past friendship and participation of service in 
that season of enterprise and glory. Even the min- 
ister extolled his virtues."* 

During our visit to the citadel, the place of his 
interment was pointed out to us. His bones (as is 
well known,) were recently transferred to New- 
York, more than forty years after their original 
interment, and now lie buried, contiguous to the 
monument, erected by Congress, in front of St. 
Paul's Church. 

* Annual Register, for 1776. 
27* 



314 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 



GENERAL ARNOLD'S PARTY. 

In the existing accounts of the attack made by 
General Arnold's division, it is not easy for a per- 
son who is unacquainted with Quebec, to under- 
stand, precisely, where the scene of operations 
lies, nor how there was to be a co-operation with 
General Montgomery. Perhaps the following re- 
marks may have a tendency to render this scene 
intelligible, and especially to those who may seek 
for information on the spot. 

General Arnold's party entered through the su- 
burb of St. Roch, which lies on the river St. Charles, 
north-west of Quebec, without the walls, and is an 
appendage of the lower town. Having been obli- 
ged to abandon the only cannon which they had, 
they passed, through the street St. Roch, which 
leads in a south-west direction, towards the wall, 
and then turning to the left, by the Intendant's 
Palace, proceeded on, towards the St. Lawrence, 
parallel to the city wall, and at a small distance 
from it. Here it was that, during a march of near- 
ly half a mile, the party, with very little injury, 
sustained the fire on their right flank, from the 
walls. Without reg.rding this heavy fire, they 
pressed on towards the enemy's first barrier, which 
was in the street called Sault des Matelots.* This 
street commences in the lower town, on the St. 

* See Colonel Bouchette's plan of Quebec, in his topographical 
map ol Lower Canada. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 315 

Lawrence, a few hundred yards from the passage 
up Mountain street ; passing down that street, and 
turning to the left or north, we come to that of the 
Matelots.* This street runs in a straight direction 
for some way, a id then turns suddenly, by a very 
narrow path, only twelve feet wide, and cut out of 
the rock, around that angle of the precipice, and 
of the grand battery, which looks down the bay of 
Quebec; it then proceeds west without turning. 
At the time of the attack, this passage, around the 
foot of the precipice, was exceedingly narrow, and 
much obstructed by cakes of ice. Coming from 
the suburb of St. Roch, the first barrier occurred, 
befoie arriving at the angle of the street, and of the 
precipice ; the second after passing it. Arnold be- 
ing severely wounded, in the approach to the first 
barrier, it was stormed and carried, by Captain 
Morgan of the Virginia riflemen, although it was 
defended by two twelve pounders, loaded with 
grape shot; one of these pieces was discharged, 
but killed only a single man, and before the second 
was fired, the barrier was passed by scaling ladders, 
and its defenders fled. It was still dark — a violent 
snow storm prevailed, and Morgan and the other 
officers, being ignorant of the streets and their de- 
fences, did not attempt the other barrier till the 
day dawned. They then turned the angle of the 

* Or sailors — I know not whether the name was derived from 
the circumstance, that a sailor once fell over the precipice int© 
this place, " without loss of life, or even serious injury." 

Private Communication — 1824. 



Mi) TOMU IIICTWKKN IIAUTFOUD ANI» titlKliKC. 

street, which broiif^lU llicm iu front of the St. Lavv- 
rencf, and of the next barrier, which hist was en- 
tirely inviHihlc (ill lUvy had made this turn, when 
they were instantly exposed to a tremendous lire 
of musketry frocn the barrier, and from the houses 
on both sides of the street ; a few of the bravest 
mounted the barritr with ladders, but saw on the 
other side, double rows of soldiers, wilhHhcir ^uns 
tixed on the ground, and presenting nothing but 
points of bayonets to recoive them, should (hey leap 
(o (hf ground. Their rotreat was in the meantime^ 
«:ut oil', by a |>ar(y of two iiundred miMi, who, with 
several ticid pieces, issutui from the palace gate, in 
their rear, and thus they were completely surround- 
ed — the inicoiKiuered barrier was in front — the city 
wall and precipice on one side, and the St. Law- 
rence and St. Charles or» (he other. 

It was a most daring attack. 

I passed several times through the street of the 
Matelols, and wonder that any of the party slioidd 
have escapcnl death. 

We can now understand how the party of Mont- 
gomery and that of Arntdd would, if successful, have 
co-opcratetl. At the time of their lepulse, they 
were making directly towards one another, and, 
but for that event, would have met in Mountain 
street, and probably have attempted the Prescot 
gate in concert; or possibly, being in possession of 
the. lower town, (hey might have assailed the palace 
gate which Arnold had passed, after leaving the 



IOf;B BETWEEN HARTFOED AND ^L'KftK'':. 317 

jbijrb of St. Roch. At present, eitbf;r of theec 
•fltcrnpts would app^.-ar prep' sterous, and it would 
I aee.m that they could fecarct^ly have proved success- 
' ful then, unlefei! the enemy had been taken by sur- 
prise. Judge Mnir'rhall'fe interestinj; account* of 
tliis afe%ault will be perfectly intelligible, if it 
be remembered that the (scenes of both tra- 
gedies are in the lower town, and the catastro- 
' phieg of both in front of the precipice, bordering 
on the St Lawrence. Montgomery fell on the ex- 
treme left, ag represented in the vignette — the re- 
pulse of Arnold's division was on the extreme right, 
and none of either party entered the upper town, 
till Arnold's troops, having fought for three hours, 
finally surrefjdered, after they were surrounded, 
and all hope of escape was at an end. Rare- 
ly has more per-sonal bravery been dif^playfcd, thao 
in this transaction. 



CASTLE OF ST. LOUIS AND THE LATL DLKE OF 
RICHMOND. 

Ttie situation, and dimensions of this building, 
have been already mentioned, (page 212.; On its 
site, and on the contiguous ground, the French 
had a fortress, called St. Louis: it covered four 
acres, and formed nearly a parallelogram. The 

* Life of Wasbii*gtoo, vol. ii. p. 332. 



318 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

present castle is a part of the curtain, connecting 
two of the bastions of the fort, or, at least, it is in 
the same place, for, I am not certain that it has not 
been rebuilt, since the destruction of the ancient 
fortress. 

This castle had been suffered to go to decay, but, 
in 1808, seven thousand pounds were voted for its 
repair and embellishment, and an additional sum at 
a subsequent period. Sir James Craig first occu- 
pied it, after this resuscitation. 

The entire establishment forms a square, of which 
the present castle is the front, and the other parts 
are occupied by public offices, ball rooms, &c. and, 
there are stables, a guard-house, and a riding room, 
besides extensive gardens.* 

Without introduction, we went to the castle of St. 
Louis, and, as strangers, preferred our request to 
see the interior. The sentinel, and the servants, 
gave us a ready admission. We were civilly con- 
ducted through its various apartments. They are 
numerous, but generally plain ; some are large and 
handsome, but they are inferior, in elegance, to the 
rooms in many private houses. The furniture, with 
some exceptions, is far from being splendid. Some 
articles are rich, but many are hardly worthy of the 
distinguished place which they occupy. 

Among the cuiiosities of the place, is a famous 
round table, or rather half of a round table, with a 
circular place cut in the middle. This, it seems, is 

* Bouchette. 



TOURBETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 319 

occupied by the host, when he drinks wine with 
his friends, who are arranged around him. That 
there may be no impediment to conviviality, not 
even the usual trouble of circulating the bottle, 
there is an ingenious machine of brass, shaped a 
little like a sextant, which can, at pleasure, be at- 
tached to the table, or removed ; the centre em- 
braces a pivot, on which it moves, and the periphery 
of the circle, sustains the bottle; the machine re- 
volves in the plane of a horizontal circle, in other 
words, on the circular table ; this is eflfected merely 
by touching a spring ; the contrivance is certainly 
as important as it is original. 

1 am not certain, however, to whom the honor of 
the invention belongs, for we were assured in the 
castle, that the furniture descends, not as public, 
but as private property, and is paid for by each 
successive governor. This, (if correctly stated,) 
does not correspond with the usual munificence and 
dignity of the British government. 

The duke of Richmond, the late Governor-Gene- 
ral of the Canadas, is stated not to have been rich ; 
indeed, in Canada, the remark is made on all hands, 
that he was poor. Still, we were repeatedly assur- 
ed, that the duke's plate, which was lately sent 
back to England, was insured at forty thousand 
pounds, a fortune in itself, for a p.ivate man. 

We were introduced into the duke's private study 

and library ; the latter was not extensive, although 

he books were good ; we saw also his bed room 



320 TOUR BETWEKN HARTFORD AN© (tWEBEC. 



and bed, and, in short, all the apartments of the 
family. 

We asked for some personal relic of the duke, 
and they presented to us a thermometrical register, 
kept by him, during the first seven months of the 
present year, and the first half of August, ending 
with the time, (I presume,) when he set forward on 
the journey, during which he died. The register 
is said to be in his own hand writing. As it is not 
often that we obtain a document respecting Cana- 
dian temperature, and, as this is interesting, on ac- 
count of its origin, 1 will present an abstract of it, 
in the form of results. 



Average tempera- 



A. D. 

1819. 
Jan. 17^ 
Feb. 25 
March 25 
April 43 



56 
66 
75 



May 
June 
July 
Aug. 
(first 15 
days) 78 



ture at 
nooQ. 

ab. 

(( 

u 
a 

a 
it 



(( 



Coldest day 
at noon. 



Jan. 14 6°bel.0Jan. 23 4l°ab.O 



Feb. 24 13 ab. 
March 6 2" 
April 8 32 
May 25 36 
June 1 52 
July 28 65 



The average of 
the three 



Aug. 8 

winter, 
spring, 
summer. 



Hottest day 
at noon. 



Feb. 9 42 " 
March 21 37 " 
April 29 64 " 
May 4 72 " 
June 6 90 " 
July 23 84 " 



Aug. 7 
72 '• and 10 86 " 

22°above 
months, is <(55 
73 






In January, the thermometer, at noon, on the 5th, 
8th , and 29th, was 4° below 0. 

I have thrown away fractions of a degree. 

The thermometers, with which the observations 
were made, still hung in the room. 



TOUli BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 321 

It is well known that the duke died of hydropho- 
bia ; and, it seems innpossible to obtain in Canada, 
nay, even in Quebec, and in the palace itself, a cor- 
rect account of the circumstances that attended the 
calamity. As the subject, being of very recent oc- 
currence, has been much spoken of in our presence^ 
and in all circles, I trust it will not be indelicate 
with respect to the friends of the deceased, or to 
the people recently under his government, if I pro- 
ceed to repeat some of the statements which we 
have heard. 

The person who shewed us the castle, and whoy 
as we were informed, belonged to the duke's house- 
hold, gave us the following account. It seems that 
the duke had a little dog, to which he was immode- 
rately attached ; the dog's name was Blucher, and 
Biurher, we were told, was carressed with such 
fondness, that he slept with his master, and wa« 
affeclionately addressed, by the appellation of •' my 
dear Blucher." 

This idolized animal was bitten in the neck by 
another dog, afterwards ascertained to be mad — 
the rencounter took place in the court-yard of the 
palace, and the duke, in whose presence it occur- 
red, full of compassion for his poor dog, caught him 
up in his arms, and applied his own lips to the part 
bitten; others, as well as this man, have informed 
us, that it was thus the duke imbibed the poison, 
some say through a cut in his lip, made by his ra- 
zor, or through an accidental crack. The duke 

28 



322 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC 

continued to sleep with the dog, which had not then, 
however, exhibited signs of madness. 

There are other persons, and, among them, some 
highly respectable men, attached to the army, who 
deny the above, and say that the duke was bitten 
by a rabid fox, on board the steam-boat; the fox 
and dog, it is said, were quarrelling, and the duke 
interfered, to part them. Others assert, that the 
-duke put his hand into the cage, where the fox was 
confined ; and all who impute the event to the fox, 
(declare that the hurt, which was on a finger, was 
«o extremely slight, as not to be noticed at the time, 
nor thought of afterwards, till the hydrophobia came 
•n. 

At the mansion house in Montreal, where the 
^uke always lodged, when in that city, we were 
assured by a respectable person in the house, that 
the duke certainly got his poison from his own dog; 
that the story was told him by the servants of the 
duke, when they returned with the dead body ; and, 
what is more, that he saw the letter which the duke 
wrote to his own daughter, the lady Mary, after his 
symptoms had manifested themselves, and when he 
was in immediate expectation of death. In this 
letter, the duke reminded his daughter of the inci- 
dent which ^as related to us at the palace. Which 
ever story is true, it would appear that the duke 
came by his death in consequence of his attach- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 323 

ment to his dog, and, surely never was a valuable 
life more unhappily sacrificed.* 

The duke was up the country, near the Ottawa 
river, when the fatal symptoms appeared, but he 
persevered in his expedition — travelled thirty miles 
on foot, the day before he died — concealed his com- 
plaint, and opposed it as long as possible — wrote 
his final farewell to the lady Mary, and the other 
children, in a long letter, which contained particu- 
lar directions as to the disposition of the family — 
and met death, we must say, at least, like a soldier, 
for a soldier he had been the greater part of his 
life. 

His complaint manifested itself, in the first in- 
stance, by an uneasiness at being upon the water, 
in the tour which he was taking into the interior, 
and they were obliged to land him. A glass of wine, 
presented to him, produced his spasms, although it is 
said, that, by covering his eyes with one hand, and 
holding the glass with the other, he succeeded in 
swallowing the wine; but afterwards, he could 
bear no liquids, and even the lather used in shaving, 
distressed him. 

In the intervals of his spasms, he was wonderful- 
ly cool and collected — gave every necessary order 

* I have never had it in my power to see the official accounts 
of the duke's death, as published in England. I am told they dif- 
fer in some measure, from the preceding statements, but I cannot 
tell in wrhat particulars. All I can say, is, that I give the reports 
as I heard them. 



324 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND q,UEBEC;* 

to his servants, and to the officers of his suite — op- 
posed the sending for a physician, from Montreal, 
because, he said, the distance from it to Richmond, 
where he died, being eighty miles, he should be a 
dead man, before the physician could arrive, and 
seemed to contemplate the dreadful fate before him, 
with the heroism, at least, of a martyr. 

In his turns of delirium, instead of barking and 
raving, as such patients are said usually to do, he 
employed himself in arranging his imaginary troops, 
forming a line of battle, (for he had been present at 
many battles, and, last of all, at Waterloo,* itself,) 
and gave particular commands to a captain in the 
navy, who was not present, bu^ whom he called by 
name, to fire — and the command was often, and ve- 
hemently repeated. In a soliloquy, overheard but 
a few minutes before his death, he said, " Charles 
Lenox, duke of Richmond! — die like a man !— 
Shall it be said, that Richmond was afraid to meet 
death — no, never !" 

I know not what were his grace's views on top- 
ics, more important at such a crisis, than what our 
fellow men will think of us ; but, there was a degree 
of grandeur, of the heroic kind, in finding a military 
nobleman, cool and forecasting, in contemplation of 
one of the most awful of all deaths, and, even in his 

* I was informed by a British officer, that the duke was not ac- 
tually iH the bloody field, but somewhere in the immediate vicin- 
itv. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 325 

moments of delirium, like king Lear, raving in a 
style of sublimity. 

We were informed, that, even in death, he did 
not forget Blucher, but ordered that he should be 
cashed, and the event awaited. The dog was carried 
away with the family, when they sailed for Eng- 
land, although he had previously begun to snap and 
fly at people. 

The duke appears to be remembered with af- 
fection ; he was regarded as a very warm friend 
to Canada, and all here, believe that he had its in- 
terests much at heart, and was actively engaged in 
promoting them. 

His family, consisting principally of daughters, 
young and unmarried, with very slender resources, 
and in a foreign land, received the appaling news at 
the castle of St. Louis, and soon the sad tidings 
were followed by the breathless body. 

One daughter is married to Sir Peregrine Mait- 
land, Governor of Upper Canada, and the lady Ma- 
ry, the eldest of the remaining daughters, is spoken 
of (although without any intended disparagement to 
the other children,) in the highest terms. We saw 
fire screens, prettily inscribed with verses, and orna- 
mented by her hand ; and the person who attended 
us, gave each of us a walking stick, cut by the 

* I was informed by a British officer, that the duke was not ac- 
tually in the bloody field, but somewhere in the immediale vicini- 
ity. 

28* 



326 TOUB BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

duke's own hand, in his last excursion. There was 
a large bundle of them done up by strings, and it 
seems it was the duke's custom, when he saw a 
stick that pleased him, to stop and cut it. 

Sir Peregrine Maitland, and his lady and family, 
lodged in the same house with us, at Montreal, and 
appeared plain, unassuming people. While there, 
they received the calls of the principal military and 
civil officers, and of the most distinguished private 
individuals ; among the rest, came the veteran sol- 
dier of Wolfe, dressed in his scarlet uniform, and in 
the fashion of other days. 

Before leaving the palace, we wrote, by request, 
our names and residence ; a requisition frequently 
made in similar places in Europe. 

From the gallery, in front of the castle of St. 
Louis, we had a most magnificent view of the river, 
and of the surrounding country, while the lower town 
lay directly at our feet, but was rather a blemish, 
than a beauty, in the prospect. 

The castle is, at its foundation, more than two 
hundred feet higher than the river, and in summer, 
must be a most charming cool spot, but in winter, a 
very bleak one. 

The duchess of Richmond is in England, and has 
never been in America. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 327 

GENERAL REMARKS ON QUEBEC 

A stranger's residence of a f&w days, in a foreign 
eity, is hardly sufficient to give him any thing more 
than general views. Such views, accurately sketch- 
ed, are, however useful, although forming but an 
outline. 

Quebec, at least for an American city, is certain- 
ly a very peculiar place. 

A military town — containing about twenty thou- 
sand inhabitants — most compactly and permanently 
built — stone its sole material — environed, as to its 
most important parts, by walls and gates — and de- 
fended by numerous heavy cannon — garrisoned by 
troops, having the arms, the costume, the music, 
the discipline of Europe — foreign in language, fea- 
tureSj and origin, from most of those whom they 
are sent to defend — founded upon a rock, and, 
in its highest parts, overlooking a great extent 
of country — between three and four hundred miles 
from the ocean — in the midst of a great continent — 
and yet displaying fleets of foreign merchantmen, 
in its fine capacious bay — and shewing all the bustle 
of a crowded sea-port — its streets narrow — populous 
and winding up and down almost mountainous de- 
clivities — situated in the latitude of the finest parts 
of Europe — exhibiting in its environs, the beauty of 
an European capital — and yet, in winter, smarting 
with the cold of Siberia — governed by a people, of 



328 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORO AND QUEBEC. 

different language and habits, from the mass ef the 
population — opposed in religion, and yet leaving 
that population without taxes, and in the full enjoy- 
ment of every privilege, civil and religious ; such 
are some of the most prominent features, which 
strike a stranger in the city of Quebec. 

As to its public buildings, besides the Castle of 
St. Louis, which has been mentioned, there is the 
Hotel Dieu, the Convent of the Ursulines, the Mo- 
nastery of the Jesuits, now used for barracks, the 
Cathedrals, Catholic and Protestant, the Scotch 
Church, the lower town Church, the Court House, 
the Seminary, the new Jail, and the artillery bar- 
racks : there are also a Place D'Armes, a Parade, 
and an Esplanade.* 

The Court House is a modern stone building, 
one hundred and thirty-six feet by forty-four, with 
a handsome and regular front. 

The Protestant Cathedral is seen in the vignette, 
being farther to the left than any building that has a 
steeple. This is the handsomest modern building 
in the city ; it is of stone, and is one hundred and 
thirty-six feet long by seventy -five broad ;f it stands 
on ground nearly as high as any in the place, and is 
seen at a great distance. 

* Bouchette. 

+ All the dimensions of the public buildings are taken on the 
authority of Colonel Bouchette. 



TOUR BETWEEN HAltTFORD AND QUEBEC, 329 

The Catholic Cathedral, seen on the right of the 
vignette, is built of stone ; it is two hundred and 
sixteen feet long, and one hundred and eight broad. 
It was the first public building that we entered in 
Quebec. We found, as usual in such places, priests 
in attendance, and people at their devotions. The 
building is full of pictures and images, and has a 
venerable and ancient appearance. It can contain 
four thousand people. 

The Seminary was founded in 1663, for ecclesi- 
astical instruction only, but is not now confined to 
that profession, although, according to Colonel Bou-. 
ehette, its members must be Catholics. 

The building is of stone, forming three sides of a 
square, two hundred and nineteen feet long, and 
one hundred and twenty broad. 

The Hotel Dieu was founded in 1637, for the 
sick poor of both sexes. It includes the convent, 
hospital, church, court-yard, cemetery, and gardens. 
The principal building is three hundred and eigh- 
ty-three feet long by fifty broad. This establish- 
ment, conducted by nuns, is highly commended for 
the humanity, comfort, cleanliness, and good ar-- 
rangement which prevail in it. 

The Ursuline Convent is a square, whose side is 
one hundred and twelve feet ; was founded in 1639; 
is devoted to female education, and is conducted by 
nuns. 

The Monastery, or College of the Jesuits, now 
usedy for barracks, is three stories high, and forms a 



530 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

parallelogram of two hundred and twenty-four feet 
by two hundred. It was a fine establishment in the 
time of the Jesuits, and judging from some of the 
apartments which 1 saw, it contains very comforta- 
ble accommodations for officers and troops. 

I was particularly struck with the new Jail, which 
is a handsome structure of stone, standing on very 
elevated ground ; it is one hundred and sixty feet 
long by sixty-eight broad, and three stories high : 
the cost was over fifteen thousand pounds. 

The Bishop's Palace is one hundred and forty- 
seven feet by one hundred and eighteen, and stands 
in a very commanding situation, near the grand bat- 
tery. It is now occupied by the Provincial Parlia- 
ment, and for various public offices, and an annuity 
is paid to the Catholic Bishop. It is said to be in 
a ruinous condition. 

The artillery barracks were built by the French 
in 1750. They extend five hundred and twenty- 
seven feet by forty, and contain accommodations 
for the artillery troops of the garrison, work-shops 
store-houses, &;c. and every variety of small arms 
for twenty thousand men, which are always kept fit 
for immediate use, and are fancifully arranged. 

Quebec is well paved with large stones, firmly fix- 
ed. Most of its streets are narrow ; the principal 
ones are thirty-two feet wide, but most of them on- 
ly from twenty-four to twenty-seven. The houses 
are of very unequal height, and generally have high 
sloping roofs, to enable them to sustain the ice and 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QPEBEC. 331 

anew. The covering of the roofs with tin, or even 
with sheet iron, is hy no means general ; most of 
them are still covered with shingles. 

Many of the modern houses, especial)}' on the 
highest ground, are very handsome, and in the mod- 
ern style, and some new ones are in progress. 

The market place is, in its largest dimensions, 
two hundred and fifty feet by one hundred and six- 
ty-five. I saw it on Saturday morning, which is the 
best time, and I never wish to see a market better 
supplied with meats, fowl, fish, and vegetables, and 
every thing was in very good order. 

The prices we are told are not high. 

There are a great many dogs in Quebec, and 
they are not kept merely for parade: they are made 
to work, and it is not uncommon in Quebec, to see 
dogs harnessed to little carts, and drawing meat, 
merchandise, and even wood, up and down the hills ; 
they pull with all their little might, and seem pleas- 
ed with their employment. 

* * * * iP * 

Quebec was founded on the 3d of July, 1608, hj 
Samuel de Champlain, Geographer to the French 
King. His commencement was on Cape Diamond, 
on the site of an Indian village called Stadacone. 

In 1629 it was taken by the English, but esteem- 
ed of so little value, that it was restored in 1632. 
It was in the hands of private adventurers or tra- 
ding companies till 1663, when it was made a royal 



332 TOUR • BETWEEN HARTPOBD AND QUEBEC. 

government, and became a regular and importani 
colony. 

In 1690, Sir William Phipps, with a great arma- 
ment from Boston, attacked and cannonaded Que- 
bec, and landed an army, but was repulsed, with 
great loss and disgrace. 

In 1712 the attempt was again made, by an Eng- 
lish fleet under Sir Hovenden Walker, who wascast 
away in the St. Lawrence, and lost seven of his 
largest ships and three thousand men, while General 
Nicholson, who was coming with an army by the 
way of Montreal, was obliged to retreat. 

In 1720 Charlevoix visited Canada, and it is in- 
teresting to compare his account of the appearance 
of Quebec, and of its environs, with its present situ- 
ation. It will be found that even then, not only the 
outlines of the place were formed, but that they 
were filled up to some extent. It at that time con- 
tained about seven thousand souls. 

He remarks, that it stands on the most navigable 
river in the universe, and that there is no other city 
in the known world, a hundred and twenty leagues 
from the sea, whose harbour is capable of containing 
one hundred ships of the line. He observes that, as 
Paris was, for a long time, inferior to what Quebec 
then was, he anticipates the time when the latter will 
be equal to the former; when *' as far as the eye can 
reach, (on the St. Lawrence,) nothing will be seen 
but towns, villas, and pleasure houses'' — ^" when the 
shores shall discover fine meadows, fruitful hills 



TOWR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 333 

and fertile fields" — " when the whole road shall be 
fticed with magnificent quays, and the port surround- 
ed with superb edifices, and when we shall see three 
or four hundred ships lying in it loaden with riches." 
All that Charlevoix anticipated a century ago, is 
not yet accomplished, but no contemptible part of 
it is already realized. He speaks of the beauty of 
the prospect from Cape Diamond, and of the purity 
of its air, and says, " you sometimes find a sort of 
diamonds on it finer than those of iVlencon" — " I 
have seen some of them, (says he,) full as well cut, 
as if they had come from the hand of the most ex- 
pert workman,'' and adds, that they have become 
very scarce. It is scarcely necessary to say, that 
he alludes to the crystals of quartz. He speaks of 
the church as being roofed with slate, and he says 
that it is the only building in all Canada which has 
this advantage, all the others being covered with 
shingles. He mentions the Governor's residence in 
the fort, and describes the front of it as having a 
gallery exactly as the Castle of St, Louis standing 
in the same place, has now. He mentions the Jes- 
uits' buildings, the Hotel Dieu, the Intendan'.'s Pal- 
ace, the Seminary or College, the Bishop's Palace, 
and various other buildings and institutions, which, 
evince great intelligence and vigor, in the early 
French population. 

He says the tides rise twenty-five feet at the time 
of the equinox. This corresponds very nearly with 
the present estimate, which is from twenty-three to 

29 



334 TOUK BETWEEN UAllTFOnD AND QtJEnEC. 

twenty-four feet, and seventeen or eighteen for cora- 
nion tides : the greatest depth of water is twenty- 
eight fathoms, and he states it generally at twenty- 
five. The great rise o( tides at Quebec, causes 
at present a necessity for very high quays : when 
we landed from the steamboat, we ascended on a 
plank not less than fifty feet long, and laid from the 
boat to the wharf so as to form a rather steep in- 
clined plane. 

Charlevoix commends the society in Quebec; 
he says you will find in it " the best company, and 
nothing is wanting that can possibly contribute to 
form an agreeable society" — that there are " rich 
merchants, or such as live as if they zcere so" and 
*' assemblies full as brilliant as any where." He 
states, that " they play at cards, or go abroad on 
parties of pleasure, in the summer time, in calashes 
or canoes; in winter, in sledges upon the snow, or 
on skaits upon the ice" — that '* the Creoles of Cana- 
da draw in with their native breath an air of free- 
dom, which makes them very agreeable in the com- 
merce of life, and no where in the zvorld is the 
French language spoken in greater ptirity, there being 
not the smallest foreign accent in the pronuncia- 
tion. 

He says, that although there are no rich men, 
every body puts on as good a face as possible ; and 
that they make good cheer, provided they are able 
to be at the expense of fine clotheis ; if not, in order 
to be able to appear well dressed, they retrench in 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD ANT) QUEBEC. 335 

the article of the table : that they have fine stature 
and complexions, a gay and sprightly behaviour, with 
great sweetness and politeness of manners, and that 
the least rusticity, either in language or behaviour, is 
utterly unknown, even in the remotest and most 
distant parts. It is surprising to see how little 
change there has been in these respects after the 
lapse of a century, and after sixty years of subjec- 
tion to a foreign power. 

Charlevoix's comparisons between the Canadi- 
ans and the New Englanders are amusing : he re- 
marks, that in New-England, and the other British 
Provinces " there prevails an opulence which they 
are utterly at a loss to use ; and in New France, a 
poverty hid by an air of being in easy circumstan- 
ces, which seems not at all studied." " The Eng- 
lish planter amasses wealth, and never makes any 
superfluous expense ; the French inhabitant again 
enjoys what he has acquired, and often makes a 
parade of what he is not possessed of." 

I will finish these citations by one which is in- 
deed most remarkable, and accounts for the dread- 
ful scents of massacre and invasion, which the Eng- 
lish colonies so often and so long experienced from 
the French. 

"The English Americans, (says Charlevoix,) are 
averse to war, because they have a great deal to 
lose ; they take no care to manage the Indiana, from 
a belief that they stand in no need of them The 
French youth, for very different reasons, abom,inate 



333 TOUR BEBWEEN HARTFORD AND (iUEBEC. 

the thoughts of peace, and live well with the na- 
tives, whose esteem they easily gain in time of war, 
and their friendship at all times." 

With respect to the institutions* of Quebec, most 
of which were founded by the French, the valua- 
ble statistical accoimt of Canada, by Colonel Bou- 
chette, will supply every detail, as to the nunneries, 
the hospitals, the college, the churches, catholic and 
protestant, the clerj^y, and every other important 
particular, which a stranger would desire to learn. 
This work, with its grand topographical map, is 
however, I believe, iittie known in the United States, 
and is rather too expensive for general circulation. f 

Besides the peculiar, or at least remarkable fea- 
tures, which have been sketched, Quebec is cer- 
tainly a very respectable city, and one of those pla- 
ces on the American continent, most worthy of the 
curiosity of an intelligent stranger. Indeed to have 

* After being so full in my notices of scenery and historical 
events, in the vicinity of Quebec, more might have been reasona- 
bly expected respecting its institutions ; the omission was acci- 
dental ; for fear that our fine weather would fail us, we postponed 
these topics till the last, and then left Quebec, several days sooner 
than we had expected or wished, which deprived us of the op- 
portunity of making other observations. 

t Colonel Rouchette is highly loyal, and his zeal (commenda- 
ble, without doubt in the main) perhaps imparts a degree of as- 
perity, to some of his notices of the events of the late warfare, 
en the Canadian frontiers, and of the policy of the American 
government. 7'hese things however do not seriously impair the ■ 
value of his great and laborious work, for which he deserves high 
commendation. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORB AND (QUEBEC. 337 

seen Quebec and Montreal, and the intervening and 
surrounding country, is, in some degree, a substi- 
tute for a visit to Europe. The latitude of Quebec 
rs 46° 48' 39'' N. 



THfc RIVER ST. LAWRENCE. 

Montreal, Oct, 12. — The mighty outlet of 
the most magnificent collection of inland waters in 
the world, the North American lakes — individually, 
like seas — collectively, covering the area of an em- 
pire ; already enlivened by the sails of commerce, 
and recently awed by the thunder of contending 
navies; bordered by thriving villages. and settle- 
ments, and hereafter to be surrounded by populous 
towns and cities, and countries ; associated as this 
river is with such realities, and with such anticipa- 
tions, it is impossible to approach the St. Lawrence, 
with ordinary feelings, or to view it as merely a 
river of primary magnitude. 

Already, the two great cities of Canada are erec- 
ted on its borders; Europe sends her fleets to Que- 
bec, and even to Montreal ; nearly two hundred 
miles of intervening water, are now daily passed be- 
tween the cities by steam boats, some of which are 
as large in tonnage as Indiamen, or sloops of war. 
It is now no very difficult task, to be wafted on the 
St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario to the Ocean, a 
distance of nearly seven hundred miles, or from 

Niagara, which differs little from one thousand, and 

29* 



338 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 

the entire range from Lake Superior, is two thou- 
sand. 

In that part of the St. Lawrence, which, within a 
week, we have now twice passed, there are fewer 
observations to be nmade than on many routes much 
less extensive, and on many rivers of much inferior 
magnitude. This arises from the great sameness 
which prevails along the banks. They appear to be 
very generally alluvial; extensively, they are so low 
that they seem, in many places, hardly to form an 
adequate barrier against the occasional swelling 
and overflow of the great river, which they limit; 
indeed, it is difficult always to convince one's self, 
that they are not, here and there actually lower 
than the riVer; of rocks, till we come within a (ew 
miles of Quebec, there are hardly any to be seen, 
and yet it is obvious, that there are rocks in the 
vicinity, because the houses are often constructed 
of stone; for many miles from Montreal, on (he 
way to Quebec, the batiks are little less than damp 
meadows, reseiitbling Holland extremely; some- 
times the shores recede in natural terraces, and 
retirino; platforms, placed, one above another, till 
the last visible one forms a high ridge; at other 
times, precipitous banks, cut down as it were by 
art, exhibit strata of gravel, and clay and sand — form- 
ing distinct, and oft.-'n variously colored horizontal 
layers; the forests are usually removed from the 
immedirste margin of the river, and the verdure is, 
in most places, rich and lively. 



TOUR BKTWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 339 

The average width of the river between Montre- 
al and Quebec, appears to be about two miles ; but 
it is extreme!)' irregular; sometimes it does uot ex- 
ceed half a mile, or three fourths of a mile, but this 
is true only near Quebec, and at a few other pla- 
ces ; at other times, it becomes two, three, or more 
miles wide. I have already mentioned, that in the 
Lake of St. Peter, as it is called, a few miles above 
the town of Three Rivers, an expansion of the 
river takes place, so that, ibr more than twenty* 
miles, its breadth is nine or ten miles. 

The current is considerable — probably three 
miles an hour, generally, but in some places it has, 
apparently doublf* that force, and the river, instead 
of flowing, as it commonly does, with an unruffled 
surface, becomes perturbed, and hurries along, with 
murmurs and eddies, and in a few places, with 
foam and breakers. 

This is particularly the case at the Richelieu 
rapids, fifty miles above Quebec, where the river 
is compressed wit!)in half a mile, and the navigable 
part within much less ; numerous rocks, which ap- 
pear to be principally large rolled masses, form, 
when the water is low, as it was when we passed, a 
terrible reef, and when the river is up, is a danger- 
ous concealed enemy. Through these rapids, as was 
mentioned on the passage down,) the steam boats 
dare not go in the night, and the instance in which 
it is said to have been done, was to carry to Quebec 

* Colonel Bouchette states the length at twenty-five miles, but 
he includes that poriion which is full of islands. 



340 T0UR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

the news of the Duke of Richmond's death. The 
speed of the steam boat had, however, been surpas- 
sed by that of the land messenger, who had already 
arrived with the gloomy news. At the lower end 
of the town of Montreal, the stream, compressed 
by the island of St. Helena, is so impetuous, that 
the steam boats, which every where else can stem 
the current, are here sometimes obliged to anchor, 
and procure the aid of oxen ; four yoke were em- 
ployed, with a drag rope, to draw the Malsham — 
the boat in which we came up to Montreal through 
this pass ;* it is however, not half a mile, that the 
river is so rapid ; for, after passing this place, steana 
carries the boats on again to their moorings, at (he 
upper end of the town. It requires a very strong 
wind to carry vessels with sails against this cnrrent. 
I saw some vessels here which enjoyed this aid 
and for one hour, I could not perceive that they 
made any head way. 

The population on the river is very considerable, 
nearly all the way between the two cities, so that 
on both sides, houses or villages are almost con- 
stantly in view. There are, however, but two 
towns of any magnitude, both of which have been 
mentioned — Sorel, at the mouth of the river of the 
same name, and which connects Lake Champlain 
with the St. Lawrence, forty-five miles below Mon- 
treal, and the Trois Rivieres, or Three Rivers,! 

* I am informed that this aid is not always necessary. 
t The tide ceases near this place. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 341 

half way between Quebec and Montreal. This 
large town derives its whimsical name, from the 
fact that the river St. Maurice, which empties here, is 
divided atits mouth, bylittle islands, into three parts, 
so that there seem to be three rivers instead of one. 

Most of the houses on both banks of the St. 
Lawrence, as well as in the vicinity of Quebec, are 
white, roof and all ; the roofs of houses in Canada, 
being frequently protected from lire, as well as 
beautified, by a white wash of salt and lime, or of 
lime only, which is renewed every year. 

There are many villages on the river; some are 
large and populous, and most of them are furnished 
with handsome, and a few with grand churches ; 
they have from one spire to three, and having gen- 
erally a brilliant covering of tin, both on the roofs 
and spires, they blaze in the sun, and, even at the 
distance of miles, dazzle the eyes of the beholder. 
Some other public buildings, and the best private 
houses on the banks, are occasionally covered in 
the same manner. Most of the cottages are only 
one story high, and are small; but large and good 
houses, appearing like the residences of the seign- 
eurs and other country gentlemen, are hardly ever 
out of sight. The banks of the St. Lawrence, thus 
verdant and beautiful from cultivation, and decked 
every where with brilliant white houses, and villa- 
ges, impress a traveller very pleasantly, although 
he finds but little variety in the views. 1 have 
omitted to mention, that from the rapids of Riche- 



342 TOUR BETWEEN HAUTFORl> AND (QUEBEC. 

lieu, going down the river, the banks ahnost imme- 
diately become considerably more elevated. 



STEAM BOATS. 

Although there are roads, said to be good, on 
both sides of the St. Lawrence, it was, till within 
five or six years, a considerably arduous underta- 
king, to travel, back and forward, between the 
two cities of Canada. By land, in the slow Cana- 
dian calash, it was tedious, and although down the 
river from Montreal to Quebec, it was obviously 
no difficult thing to go with the current — to return 
by water, was always difficult. With head winds 
it was of course, impossible to ascend, nor, with 
strong head winds, could they always descend, even 
with the aid of the stream. 

Quebec and Montreal were therefore a great 
way apart, as regarded facility of intercourse ; now 
they are, in this respect, very near, and it is possi- 
ble to visit either city from the other, quite com- 
fortably and at ease — to transact business, and re- 
turn, within the period of four days, alfhmigh the 
distance is one hundred and eighty miies. This 
wonderful facility has been imparted by steam 
boats, of which no fewer than seven now ply be- 
tween Montreal and Quebec. They are named 
Malsham, Swiftsure, Lady Sherbrook, Quebec, 
Telegraph, Car of Commerce, and Caledunia. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOUD AND QUEBEC. 343 

The burden* of the Malsham is above six hun- 
dred tons, and that of the Lady Sherbrook was sta- 
ted to us at about eig^ht hundred; these are the 
largest, and most of the others are considerably 
smaller. 

They are built with deep holds for freight, which 
appears to be much more an object with them than 
passengers. Going down in the Swiftsure, of be- 
tween three and four hundred tons, we had but 
about a dozen cabin passengers, and returning in 
the Malsham, we had but four. The accommoda- 
tions are good, and the provision for the table am- 
ple — for dinner, it is luxurious — there is a lunch at 
noon, for dinner is at four o'clock, and tea at eight; 
breakfast also at eight o'clock. 

The captains of the boats partake in all the good 
things ; some of them at least, are convivial with 
their guests, and sit long to drink wine, which is 
the common practice in Canada. 

Some of them appear to be in danger from reple- 
tion ; they have but little bodily exercise, and swim- 
ming as they do in a sea of luxury, it is not extra- 
ordinary that they exhibit the physical effects of 
good living; they are, however, very obliging and 
courteous to their passengers, who are made per- 
fectly comfortable on board of their boats. 

The machinery is situated deep in the hold, and 
appears but little above deck; this circumstance, 
with the depth of the hull, and the burden of freight 

* That of the Car of Commerce is stated at about six hundred 
tons. 



344 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

which the boats carry, causes them to move much 
more steadily than ours do. 

On board the Malsham, we could scarcely per- 
ceive the jar of the machinery; there being no la- 
dies on board, Mr. W and njyself were per- 
mitted to appropriate the after cabin, a very con- 
venient room, where, with a comfortable fire, we 
enjoyed even domestic retirement, and were allow- 
ed to occupy our time as we pleased. 

We were told, that the Lady Sherbrook was the 
finest boat in the line, but we were not on board of 
her. 

The fuel for the boats costs about two dollars 
and fifty cents the cord, and they stop twice, once 
at Sorel, and once at the Three Rivers, to take it in. 

The passage costs ten dollars down to Quebec, 
and twelve returning ; we were on board two nights, 
and one day, in going down, and two days and three 
nights in returning; but a part of two of the nights, 
in the last, and one of them in the first, was spent in 
the dock. 

Steam boat business has been very profitable on 
this river, but is now said to be otherwise, owing 
principally to its being overdone. 



DANGERS OF STEAM BOATS. 

The catastrophes produced by the explosion of 
the boilers of steam bo;its. having now become 
rare, the attention of the public, in consequence of 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND ^PEBEC. 345 

several unhappy occurrences, and especially of the 
late dreadful one on Lake Champlain, has been 
directed to the dangers of fire. The active volca- 
no which the steam boat necessarily carries in her 
bowels, seems sufficiently appalling, and few per- 
sons, when first beginning to travel in this way, can 
lie down to sleep, without deeply pondering, that a 
furious imprisoned enemy is raging within the com- 
bustible vehicle that bears them along, and that 
both fire and water, usually foes, but here leagued 
in unnatural alliance, may conspire for their de- 
struction. Rarely, however, does it appear to have 
occurred to the traveller, that the most serious dan- 
ger (as the thing is actually managed,) arises from 
just that negligence, and presumption and apathy, 
which destroy so many buildings, so much proper- 
ty, and so many lives on shore. 

I am sorry to say that, in the boats on these 
northern waters, there is not that degree of care and 
anxious vigilance which the case certainly demands, 
where so much property and so many lives are at 
stake. 7'he Phoenix, as 1 have before observed, 
was, without doubt, destroyed by a candle; still, 
candles are negligently left on board of most of 
the boats in the northern waters ; fires and candles are 
not adequately watched on the St. Lawrence, and 
we have seen in one of the Canadian boats, a fire 
made in an open stove, standing without a chimney, 
on the naked deck, while the coals were every mo- 
ment blowing against pine gpars, and falling on the 

30 



346 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

deck, which was made of dry pine and covered 
with pitch. We were also exposed to danger from 
a very unexpected 



INCIDENT. 

On our passage up the river, in a northeasterly 
storm, just as we were entering the Richeheu rap- 
ids, where we needed all our power to stem the 
current, and any disaster would be peculiarly em- 
barrassing, we were pressing on, not only with pow- 
erful steam, but with a strong and fair wind, which 
strained every thread of our large square sail, the 
only one which we carried. Our mast, apparently 
about fifty feet high, and of proportionate diameter, 
was, it seems, only feebly braced from the bow, al- 
though perhaps sufficiently in the other direction. 

The Captain, having been up the preceding night, 
was asleep below : I was on deck, and observed 
that our mast, with its feeble shrouds, was strained 
to the utmost, and felt some anxiety lest it should 
fail. Going below, I was scarcely seated, before ft 
crash and an outcry brought me again on deck. 

The wind, it appears, suddenly flirted around, 
and a violent squall from an angry cloud, instantly 
threw the sail all aback upon the mast; there being 
no adequate stays or braces to sustain the solitary 
pine, it snapped, like a pipe's stem ; the two chimnies 
were a few yardsbehind ; the heavy sparwhich sup- 
ported the sail at top, falling violently across one of 
the chimnies, was broken quite in two; the mast. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UEBEC. 347 

also, in its fall broke the horizontal iron rods, which 
crossed each other and were fastened to some high 
frame work, to sustain the chimnies ; the sail fell 
over the mouths of both chimnies, and shut them 
up completely, and from the top of one of them, sus- 
tained by the cords which fastened them to the sail, 
hung the two broken pieces of the yard, probably 
forty feet in length. 

The Captain could not be immediately found : 
the Canadian seamen who managed the boat, vocif- 
erated most furiously in French, but seemed utterly 
confounded, and without resource, and some feeble 
attempts which they made to disengage the sail 
from the chimnies, only pulled it more entirely over 
them. In the mean time, the wind, which continu- 
ed to blow violently, jerked the sail and its broken 
spars with so much force, that there was much dan- 
ger that the chimnies would go by the board ; in 
which case, our furnaces being in full action below, 
would throw out their flame immediately upon the 
deck, and upon the tierces of gin, by which it was 
covered even close to the chimnies. There ap- 
peared to be nearly one hundred of these tierces, 
and the explosion of any one of them, which would 

probably occur if struck by the fire, would involve 
us in sheets of flame; and should we even succeed 

in extinguishing the fire, our boat without either 
steam or sail, would be completely unmanageable, 
and be liable to be wrecked at the foot of the rap- 
ids. 



348 TOUR BETWKEN HARTFORD AKI) (lUEBEC. 

In this moment of anxiety, (while a poor Scotch 
emigrant, whose all was on board, was weeping and 
wringing his hands, and exclaiming that we should 
all be lost,) the Captain arrived on deck. The 
wind worried the sail across the top of one of the 
chimnies, which was cut into points like a picket 
fence, so that the canvass was soon completely 
perforated, and the chimney stood up through it, 
like a head in a pillory. The other chimney was 
so battered by the fall of the yard, that it could 
not pierce the sail, especially as it was guarded at 
that part by a strong rope, and every effort to dis- 
engage it, failed. It was easy to foresee what must 
follow: the sail, which being wet with rain, for 
sometime resisted the heat, now became so dried, 
that it look fire and blazed. The Captain sent up 
one of the sailors to cut it away, and the man with 
sufficient hardihood, crawled up and worked where 
it was on fire all around him. At length by burn- 
ing, it fell from the chimney, and we were extrica- 
ted from our unpleasant situation. If, however, the 
sail, the fuel on deck, and every part of the boat 
had been dry, and especially had the accident oc- 
curred in the night, the consequences might have 
been very painful. But there was an eye superior 
to human vigilance, which watched over our safety. 

Immediately after this accident, we had a good 
proof of the manner in which science and art can 
sometimes triunoph over the obstacles of nature. 
We entered the rapids of Richelieu, not only with 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND (QUEBEC. 349 

an opposing current of great strength, but with a 
strong head wind; but still, by the force of steann 
alone, we fought our way through, and indeed the 
same wind continued through the remainder of our 
passage. 



A NIGHT SCENE ON THE ST. LAWRENCE. 

The long twilight of this climate, which, (as ob- 
served at Montreal,) in a degree compensates for 
the shortness of the days, was exhausted ; the cot- 
tages and villages on shore cast their evening light 
on the river ; the waning moon, reduced to less 
than half her full size, had just risen over our stern, 
and cast a feeble radiance on the flood and the 
shores; the stars, unobscured by a single cloud, 
were bright as gems in the azure vault ; the galaxy 
was delicately traced athwart the sky — all was still- 
ness except the dashing of the water wheels, the 
cry of the steersman, and the occasional song of the 
Canadian boatmen ; when the aurora borealis ap- 
peared, under circumstances which 1 never before 
witnessed. 

Not only was there a mild glow in the lower 
part of the northern portion of the sky, similar to 
that seen through a transparency, but there were 
shoots of light darting upward like very feeble 
flames, now elongating, now receding, and chang- 
ing their places. 

30* 



35i TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOUD AND ^.tJEBEC. 

and calashes, besides people and cattle, other than 
those belonging to these vehicles. We crossed 
lower down, and in deeper water, than we had pass- 
ed in the canoe. 

The view of the town when we were receding, 
as well as when we were advancing, was very 
fine. It stretches about two miles along the St, 
Lawrence, and it scarcely equals half a mile in 
breadth. The bank of the river is considerably el- 
evated, and the ground, although not very uneven, 
rises gradually from the water, into a moderate 
ridge — then sinks into a hollow, and then rises again, 
with more rapidity, till it finishes, less than a mile 

He saicl he mucli preferred their protection to that of the wan- 
dering whites, who, unrestrained by ahiaost any human law, 
prowl through those immense forests in quest of furs and game. 
Possibly (without however, intending any thing disrespectful by 
the remark,) some mutual sympathies might have been excited, 
by the fact that Mr. Parsh was himself a Tartar^ bora and edu- 
cated in Siberia, near Toboltski ; and indeed, he possessed a 
physiognomy and manner different from that of Europeans, and 
highly characteristic of his country. 

His conversation was full of fire, point and energy ; and al- 
though not polished, he was good humoured, frank, and generous . 
He complained that he could not endure the habits of civilized 
life, and that his health began to be impaired as soon as he be- 
came quiet, and was comfortably fed and lodged, fie said he 
must soon "be off again" into the wilderness. His health was then 
declining, and unfortunately it was but too apparent, that some 
of the measures to which he resorted to sustain it, must eventu- 
ually postrate his remaining vigour. 

It is to be hoped that his unfinished labours will not be lost 
and that although incomplete, they may be published ; since, if, 
suiBciently matured, they must add to the stock of knowledge. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOIID AND QUEBEC. 353 

and a half from the town, in one of the finest hills 
that can be imagined. This hill is called the moun- 
tain of Montreal, and indeed, from it, the town de- 
I'ives its name j the words originally signified, as is 
said, the Royal Mountain. This mountain rises 
five hundred and fifty feet above the level of the 
river. 

It forms a steep and verdant barrier, covered with 
shrubbery, and crowned with trees, and is a most 
beautiful back ground for the city. 

Its form, as it appears from the river, is nearly 
that of a bow. We rode up, across the southern 
end of it, behind the beautiful seat of the Hon. Mr. 
McGillivray. I afterwards ascended it on foot, in 
company with an English gentleman, and walked 
the length of its ridge. 'J'he view is one of the fin- 
est that can be seen in any country. Immediately 
at our feet the city of Montreal is in full view, with 
its dazzling tin covered roofs, and spires, and its 
erowded streets; the noble St. Lawrence, stretch- 
ing away to the right and left, is visible, probably for 
fifty miles, and, on both sides of it, and for a very 
great width, particularly on the south, one of the" 
most luxuriant champaign countries in the world, is 
spread before the observer. The mountains of 
Belasil, Chambly, and a few others, occur upon this 
vast plain, but, in general, it is uninterrupted, till it 
reaches the territories of the United States, in 
which we discern the mountains of Vermont and 
^New-York. 



35i TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOKD AND qUEBEC. 

and calashes, besides people and cattle, other than 
those belonging to these vehicles. We crossed 
lower down, and in deeper water, than we had pass- 
ed in the canoe. 

The view of the town when we were receding, 
as well as when we were advancing, was very 
fine. It stretches about two miles along the St. 
Lawrence, and it scarcely equals half a mile in 
breadth. The bank of the river is considerably el- 
evated, and the ground, although not very uneven, 
rises gradually from the water, into a moderate 
ridge — then sinks into a hollow, and then rises again, 
with more rapidity, till it finishes, less than a mile 

He saici lie mucli preferred their protection to that of the wan- 
dering whites, who, unrestrained by ahnost any human law, 
prowl through those immense forests in quest of furs and game. 
Possibly (without however, intending any thing disrespectful hj 
the remark,) some mutual sympathies might have been excited, 
by the fact that Mr. Parsh was himself a Tartar, born and edu- 
cated in Siberia, near Toboltski ; and indeed, he possessed a 
physiognomy and manner different from that of Europeans, and 
highly characteristic of his country. 

His conversation was full of fire, point and energy ; and al- 
though not polished, he was good humoured, frank, and generous . 
He complained that he could not endure the habits of civilized 
life, and that his health began to be impaired as soon as he be- 
came quiet, and was comfortably fed and lodged. He said he 
must soon "be off again" into the wilderness. His health was then 
declining, and unfortunately it was but too apparent, that some 
of the measures to which he resorted to sustain it, must eventu- 
ually postrate his remaining vigour. 

It is to be hoped that his unfinished labours will not be lost 
and that although incomplete, they may be published ; since, if,, 
sufficiently matured, they must add to the stock of knowledge. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORB AND QUEBEC, 353 

and a half from the town, in one of the finest hills 
that can be imagined. This hill is called the moun- 
tain of Montreal, and indeed, from it, the town de- 
rives its name ; the words originally signified, as is 
said, the Royal Mountain. This mountain rises 
five hundred and fifty feet above the level of the 
river. 

It forms a steep and verdant barrier, covertd with 
shrubbery, and crowned with trees, and is a most 
beautiful back ground for the city. 

Its form, as it appears from the river, is nearly 
that of a bow. We rode up, across the southern 
end of it, behind the beautiful seat of the Hon. Mr. 
McGillivray. I afterwards ascended it on foot, in 
company with an English gentleman, and walked 
the length of its ridge. "J'he view is one of the fin- 
est that can be seen in any country. Immediately 
at our feet the city of Montreal is in full view, with 
its dazzling tin covered roofs, and spires, and its 
crowded streets; the noble St. Lawrence, stretch- 
ing away to the right and left, is visible, probably for 
fifty miles, and, on both sides of it, and for a very 
great width, particularly on the south, one of the" 
most luxuriant champaign countries in the world, is 
spread before the observer. The mountains of 
Belaeil, Chambly, and a few others, occur upon this 
vast plain, but, in general, it is uninterrupted, till it 
reaches the territories of the United States, in 
which we discern the mountains of Vermont and 
-New-York. 



364 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

In our rear, we saw the Ottawa or Grand river, 
and its branches, which, uniting, and becoming 
blended with the St. Lawrence, divide the island of 
Montreal from the main. 

Nothing is wanting, to render the mountain of 
Montreal a charming place for pedestrian excur- 
sions, and for rural parties, but a little effort, and 
expense in cutting and clearing winding walks, and 
in removing a few trees from the principal points of 
view, (as they now form a very great obstruction;) 
a lodge, or resting place, on the mountain, con- 
structed so as to be ornamental, would also be a 
desirable addition. 

On the front declivity of the mountain, is a beau- 
tiful cylinder of lime stone, or gray marble, erected 
on a pedestal ; the entire height of both appeared 
to be about thirty-five feet. It rises from among 
the trees, by which it is surrounded, and is a mon- 
ument to the memory of Simon McTavish, Esq. 
who died about fourteen years since, and was, in 
a sense, the founder of the North Western Compa- 
ny, Just below, is a handsome mausoleum, of the 
same materials, containing his retr^ains; and, still 
lower down the mountain, an unfinished edifice of 
stone, erected by the same gentleman, which, had 
he lived to complete it, woulJ have been one of the 
finest in the vicirily of Montreal. It is now fast 
becor ing a ruin, although it is 'uclosrd and roofed 
in, and the winflows are built up with masonry. 
It would have been a superb house, if finished ac- 
cording to the original plan. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORB AND QUEBEC. 355 

GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 

The mineralogy and geology of this mountain, 
and of the island, I could wish to see thoroughly in- 
vestigated, as they appear to be interesting ; the few 
facts which I had it in my power to observe, were 
as follows : The plain at the foot of the mountain, 
particularly at the race course, is compact, black 
lime stone, fetid, and containing organized remains; 
its stratification is regular, and its position flat ; it 
forms one of the most common building stones io 
Montreal. This rock seems to prevail half way up 
the mountain, and is followed, by what appeared 
to me, a hard, probably a siliceous slate, intersect- 
ed by veins of trap. Higher up still, and on the 
north-eastern end particularly, is a rock, inclined 
at an angle of 45°, which seemed to be a decom- 
posed lime stone, of a light gray colour, and friable 
texture, at least where it was exposed to the weath- 
er. 

The very summit of the mountain, is a horn- 
blende rock, highly crystalline in its structure, and 
containing distinct crystals of both hornblende and 
augite. It is a striking example of the parasytical 
character of the hornblende and trap rocks, follow- 
ing no regular order of succession, but occasionally 
forming caps and ridges, on all sorts of rocks and 
mountains. 

There is found also on the island, within a short 
distance of the town, a lime stone, of a smoke gray, 



35'& TOUft BETWEEN HARTPOR» ANB QUEBEC. 

highly crystalline in its structure, nearly, or quite as 
much so as the decidedly primitive marbles; when 
broken, it presents numerous and brilliant crystal- 
line plates, and this is, in fact, almost exclusively 
its structure. 

Still, it contains numerous shells, and other or- 
ganized remains, of which the impressions and 
forms are very distinct. Shells, and organized re- 
mains, in a highly crystallized lime stone! Is it 
transition lime stone, just on the verge of becoming 
primitive ? I had no time to visit the place whence 
it comes, but, in the piles of stone, about to be used 
in building, in the town, I observed this crystallized 
iime stone (and that in vast blocks, showing the 
stratification, and evincing that it was not acciden- 
tal) actually united into one piece, with the black 
compact kind, like the hone slates, of different 
colours, which are often exposed for sale. 

In other pieces, I saw fragments of the black 
compact kind, mixed with the crystallized ; and 
some large blocks of the latter were terminated by 
a black uneven surface, probably showing the line 
of connexion with the black kind.* 

I have not seen enough of the vicinity of Mont- 
real, to venture to pronounce, confidently, concern- 
ing its geological classification ; it would appear, 
bowever, that it is partly a transition, but princi- 

* I thence infer, that they occur together, in itirocdiate con- 
oexiou, and probably the black compact kind will be louud to lie 
upon the other. 



TOUR HETWEEN HARTFORD AND ^CEUEC. 357 

pally a secondary region. I saw no proof that any 
part of it is primitive, and cannot but wonder at 
the opinion entertained, as I am told, by many per- 
sons in Montreal, that the gray crystallized lime 
stone is granite. I saw no granite on the island. 



MODE OF BUILDING IN MONTREAL. 

Montreal has much the appearance of an Euro- 
pean town, particularly of a continental one. The 
streets are narrow, except some of the new ones ; 
the principal ones, are those parallel to the river, 
of which those of St. Paul, which is a bustling street 
of business, near the river, and Notre Dame street 
on higher ground, and more quiet, more genteel, 
and better built, are the principal; the latter street 
is thirty feet wide, and three fourths of a mile long. 
A few of those which intersect the above streets at 
right angles, are also considerable. The town has 
a crowded active population, and many strangers, 
and persons from the country, augment the activity 
in its streets. 

But the circumstance which assimilates it most 

to a continental European town, is its being built 

of stone. People from the United States, are apt 

to consider Montreal as gloomy, and, I presume it 

arises from the fact, of its being built of stone, and 

principally in an antique fashion. The former is 

however, in reality, a strong ground of preference 

31 



358 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

over our cities, built of wood and brick, Stone is 
the best material of which houses can be construct- 
ed; if properly built, they are not damp in the 
least ; they exclude both heat and cold, better than 
any other houses ; they will not burn,* except in 
part, and scarcely need repair, and they are easily 
made beautiful. Indeed, no other material pos- 
sesses sufficient dignity for expensive public edifi- 
ces; and we were sorry to see even a few private 
houses, in the suburbs of Montreal, built of brick, 
in the Anglo-American style. 

I was, I confess, much gratified at entering, for 
the first time, an American city, built of stone. The 
inhabitants of Montreal possess a very fine building 
stone in the gray lime stone already mentioned ; it 
is as handsome, when properly dressed, as the cel- 
ebrated Portland stone of England, and it is much 
superior to it in durability. A number of the mod- 
ern houses of Montreal, and of its environs, which 
are constructed of this stone, handsomely hewn, are 
very beautiful, and would be ornaments to the city 
of London, or to Westminster itself. 

Many of the houses are constructed of rough 
stone, coarsely pointed, or daubed with mortar, and 
have certainly an unsightly appearance ; others, 
here, as well as at Quebec, and elsewhere in Cana- 
da, are covered with a rough cement, and look rude- 
ly; it is perfectly easy to make both these kinds of 

* An advantage, which they obviously possess in common with 
brick. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 359 

houses handsome, as well as durable, as is seen in 
particular instances in Canada. 

Many of the houses, stores, and ware-houses, 
in Montreal, have iron plate doors, and window 
shutters, fortified by iron frames ; this is obviously 
a precaution against fire, as well as robbery, and 
the tin coverings and the roofs of the buildings, are 
intended as a protection against the former. 

The tin is put on in an oblique direction to the 
cornice and ridge ; the nails are covered from view, 
and from the weather, by doubling the tin over the 
heads of the nails, and the diflferent rows of tin 
sheets are made to lap in the manner of shingles. 
It is by no means an easy thing, to put on a tin 
roof, so as to be both handsome and durable. 

Montreal is certainly a fine town of its kind, and 
it were much to be wished that the people of the 
^United States would imitate the Canadians, by con- 
structing their houses, wherever practicable, of 
stone. 



P]NVlROi\s. 

The environs of Montreal are beautiful, but, al- 
though considerably cultivated and improved, they 
are far from being brought to the state of which 
they are capable. 

A number of handsome villas now make their ap- 
pearance around the town, and there are numerous 



360 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

sites, still unoccupied, which will probably be here- 
after crowned with elegant seats. Few places in 
the world possess more capabilities of this kind than 
Quebec and Montreal; if the latter is less bold than 
the former, in its scenery, it possesses much rich- 
ness, and delicate beauty, which need nothing but 
wealth and taste to display them to advantage ; the 
former already exists in Montreal to a great extent, 
and there are also very respectable proofs of the 
existence and growth of the latter. 



RACE COURSE AND RACING. 

Near the city of Montreal, there is a race course, 
a circuit of about two miles. It happened that we 
were at this place at the time of the races, and in a 
ride around the environs, we came across the 
ground at the time when the horses were about 
starting. The subject seemed to excite a good deal 
of interest in the community. In the steam boat 
on Lake Champlain, Canadians, anticipating the 
sports of the ensuing week, were much occupied in 
discussing the merits of the different horses, and in 
predicting the results. 

The same topic was the ruling one at the public 
houses, and upon the turf, where we found both the 
gentry and the common people of Montreal. The 
latter were on foot, and the former were either on 
horseback, or with elegant equipages, of which this 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 3G1 

city affords a few. Their number appears not to 
be proportioned to the vvealih of the place, for the 
obvious reason, that, from the nature of the coun- 
try, water conveyance is principally used in travel- 
ling. Ladies were present in considerable numbers, 
and all were intent, while the judges mounted the 
sta^e — the horses were led forth, and the riders, in 
leather breeches, silk party colored jackets, and 
jockey caps, mounted, and darted away at the ap- 
pointed signal. 

Three times they coursed around the appointed 
circle, and twice, at least, must a horse come out 
ahead of his competitors, before the prize is won. 

It was, in the present instance, obtained by a 
horse, famous, it seems, on this ground, for distan- 
cing all his compeers. His name is Democrat, And 
thus it has grown into a proverb, that Democrat beats 
every thing 'hi Canada. 

At Quebec there is also a race course, and races 
were held the day that we arrived. The course is 
on the venerable plains of Abraham, where we saw 
the ground, exhibiting marks of having been recent- 
ly trod. How different a strife from that between 
contending armies ! Who would not wish to pre- 
serve these classical plains from such a degradation. 



IMPORTANCE OF MONTREAL. 

The point which connects the ocean, and, of 
course, Europe, and the rest of the world, with the 

31* 



302 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBE6. 

countries bordering on the vast lakes of this conti- 
nent, and upon the various rivers which empty into 
them, cannot be otherwise than important- This is 
precisely the situation of Montreal, and its location 
certainly evinces great good judgment on the part 
of Jaques Cartier, who, in 1635 or 36, first sailed 
thus far upon the St. Lawrence, and fixed upon 
this place as the site for a town. It was then occu- 
pied by an Indian village. The city was begun in 
1640, by a few houses, compactly built, and was 
originally called Villa Marie. There seems, how- 
ever, to have been one error in selecting the place 
of the future city. It was meant to be at the head 
of navigation ; it is literally so ; and ships* can go 
up to the very city, although it is not usual to do it 
with vessels of more than an hundred and fifty 
tons. Vessels drawing fifteen feet of water can 
lie at Market gate, high up in this city ; the general 
depth of water in the harbor is from three to four 
and a half fathoms. Unfortunately, however, the 
rapid of St. Mary, at the extreme end of the town, 
or rather, near one of its suburbs, is so powerful an 
obstacle, that nothing but a very strong wind will 
force a vessel through, when not impelled by any 
other power. 

Ships are sometimes detained here for weeks, on- 
ly two miles below where they are to deliver their 
freight; a canal is contemplated, to enable river 
craft to convey freight around the rapid. 

* It is said even of six hundreil lorn. 



TOUR nETWEEN HARTFORD A\n QUEBEC. 363^ 

This is the rapid where the steam boats are some- 
timesobliged to anchor, and procure the aid of oxen. 
It would appear that the town should have been built 
at this place, or a little below, and then the incon- 
venience would have been avoided. But as the 
buildings do now, in fact, extend to this place, it 
would be easy to establish a port here, and it will 
doubtless be done in time; it would, however, 
greatly forward the object, if a (ew spirited individ- 
uals would begin, by erecting stores and wharves, 
and it would be easy to have the steam boats stop 
there ; easy I mean, as to every thing but the rival 
local interests which are usually in such cases array- 
ed against projected improvements. There are few 
cities in the world, especially of the magnitude and 
importance of Montreal, which, situated more than 
five hundred and eighty miles from the ocean, can 
still enjoy the benefit of a direct ship communica- 
tion with it. 

Montreal is evidently one of the three great chan- 
nels by which the trade of North America will be 
principally carried on. It is obvious that New- York 
and New-Orleans are the other two places, and it 
is of little consequence that other cities may engross 
a considerable share of trade, or that, by canals and 
other internal improvements, smaller rills of com- 
inerce may be made to flow towards one city or 
another. The great natural basins and water 
courses, and mountain ranges of this continent, will 
still control (he course of trade, and direct its most 



364 TOUR BETWEKN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

gigantic currents towards these three towns, one ot 
which is already a great and noble city, and the 
two others are advancing with great rapidity. The 
sickly climate of New-Orleans will somewhat re- 
tard its growth, but will not prevent it; Montreal 
enjoys a climate extremely favorable to health, but 
it is locked up by ice four or five months in the 
year. The carriole, however, triumphs over the 
ice, and the Canadian, when he can no longer push 
or paddle his canoe on the waters of the St. Law- 
rence, gaily careers over its frost-bound surface, 
and well wrapped in woollen and in furs, defies 
the severity of winter. 

In 1815, Colonel Bouchette stated the popula- 
tion of Montreal at fifteen thousand; no one now 
rates it, including the suburbs, at less than twenty 
thonsand, and one intelligent inhabitant gave it as 
his opinion, that the population must, at present, 
equal twenty-five thousand; perhaps the middle 
number is nearest to the truth. 

Montreal has many good, respectable institutions, 
most of which are, however, French establishments, 
dating their origin under the French dominion, 
now sixty years extinct in this country. I must 
refer for an account of them, as well as of those at 
Quebec, to Colonel Bouchctte's work, which ought 
to be perused by every person who would obtain a 
competent knowledge of the Canadas. I shall 
presently quote from him the dimensions and ex- 
tent of some of the most important public institu- 
tions of Montreal. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 365 

The colleges or seminaries of Quebec, and of 
Montreal, are considered as very useful institutions, 
and the French is the colloquial tongue in both.— 
A gentleman of New-York, who came on with 
us in the steam boat down Lake Cham^ain, 
brought three boys with him — two of them his own 
children, and placed them at the seminary in Mon- 
treal. This institution is said to contain two or 
three hundred members ; both here and at Que- 
bec, they are distinguished by a peculiar costume 
— a blue surtout, the seams of which are all 
ornamented with a white cord, and they are 
confined both summer and winter, by a large 
sash or belt, doubled around the body, and tied 
in a knot. It is of woollen, and of many colors, 
and gives them something of a military air. In 
winter, this appendage must be useful, (but in sum- 
mer, and the Canadian heat is very intense,) it 
must be oppressive if not injurious. Among the 
youths whom we saw in the streets, in the academ- 
ic uniform, were some who were almost men, and 
others who appeared to have hardly escaped from 
the nursery. The morals of the boys are said to 
be very carefully watched, and the expenses to be 
very moderate — two points in which they are cer- 
tainly very worthy of imitation. 

1 did not go into the college buildings, but their 
exterior, which I saw, is rude, and the building is 
ancient. They have a fine garden and buildings 
without the city, besides those that are within. 



366 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

The nunneries both here and at Quebec, are 
maintained in all their pristine dignity. We were 
too much occupied at Quebec, to see the nunneries 
even in the hmited manner in which they are shown, 
and tt Montreal they are open, in a restricted sense, 
on Thursday only; this happened, unfortunately, 
to be the only day in the week which we did not 
spend there. I went, however, into the Court yard 
of one of the principal nunneries, and saw one of 
the aged sisters with her veil lifted up ; she was 
busily occupied in feeding chickens. 

In the institutions called Hotel Dieu, both at 
Quebec and at Montreal, and in other hospitals, the 
nuns attend on sick and distressed persons, without 
regard to any distinctions, whether of religion or 
otherwise ; and their humanity, disintcredness, and 
skilful kindness are spoken of in the highest terms 
of approbation. An opulent and highly respectable 
citizen, of Montreal, formerly from Massachusetts, 
said to us, "I shall always think highly of the nuns, 
and feel very grateful to them ; for when I first 
came to Montreal, poor and friendless, and became 
sick, I committed myself to the care of the nuns in 
one of the hospitals, and there 1 received, for months, 
all the kindness of mothers and of sisters, till 1 was 
restored to health," 

Perhaps we ought not to censure with too much 
severity, the establishment of, here and there, an 
institution, where the unhappy, the bereaved and 
even the deserted and betrayed, especially Avhen 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 367 

they arc persons distinguished by meritorious pe- 
culiarities of character or situation, may find at least 
a temporary shelter from the gaze of an unfeeling 
world ; but it certainly is wrong, to make the de- 
sertion of the most interesting and important social 
relations a religious duty. It is however, a pleasing 
alleviation to find that any such persons make some 
amends to society for their dereliction of its common 
duties and interests, by the gratuitous performance 
of difficult and painful offices of humanity. 

Montreal has a number of good public buildings. 
Besides the large Catholic and English Cathedrals, 
and other churches, there are, the Court House, 
which is one hundred and forty-four feet long, the 
Jail and the Banks, and various other public build- 
ings which do honour to the town. The Court 
House, Jail and English Cathedral particularly are 
modern, and very large and handsome buildings, 
constructed of the gray limestone, hewn and laid up 
with neatness and skill. 

The monument to Lord Nelson, in the principal 
market place, would grace any of the squares of 
London. A figure of his lordship, crowns a high 
column* of the gray limestone, which is sustained 
by a large pedestal on the sides of which are ex- 
hibited in alio relievo, the principal achievements 
of his lordship's life and an appropriate inscription, 
containing his last and very memorable public or- 

* I have not heard its height mentioned, bttt should imagine it 
may be forty feet. 



368 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

ders to the squadron before the battle of Trafalgar, 
" England expects that every man will do his duty." 



MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS ON MONTREAL. 

This city is in latitude 45" 31' north, and in lon- 
gitude 73° 35' west from Greenwich. It covers 
one thousand and twenty acres — what was within the 
old fortification was only one hundred acres. Its cli- 
mate is very considerably milder than that of Quebec, 
and most persons would probably consider it as a more 
desirable residence. In regard to accommodations, it 
is so to a stranger, who will look in vain, in Que- 
bec, for an establishment ecjual to the Mansion 
House. He will find indeed, in Quebec, a good 
table, but there are deficiencies on other topics, to 
which an American, from the United States, and 
still more perhaps, an Englishman, will not easily 
be reconciled 

The following facts,* as to the extent of some of 
the public establishments of Montreal, may be of 
some use, towards a correct estimation of the pub- 
lic spirit of the country, especially of that which 
prevailed under the French dominion. 

The Hotel Dieu, founded in 1644, is three hun- 
dred and twenty-four feet in front, by four hundred 
and sixty-eight deep 5 it is attended by thirty -six 
nuns, who administer to the sick and diseased of 
both sexes. 

* Bouchette. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 369 

The Convent of La Congregation de Notre 
Dame, forms a range of buildings, two hundred and 
thirty-four feet in front, by four hundred and thirty- 
three ; the object of this institution is female in- 
struction. 

The general hospital or convent of the gray sis- 
ters, was founded in 1750: it occupies a space 
along the httle river, St. Pierre, of six hundred and 
seventy-eight feet, and is a refuge for the infirm 
poor and invalids. 

The Cathedral of Notre Dame, is one hundred 
and forty-four feet by ninety-four; this church we 
thought, in some respects, more splendid in the in- 
terior, but less grand, than that at Quebec. It con- 
tains, among other things, a gigantic wooden image 
of the Saviour on the cross. The Cathedral stands 
completely in the street of Notre Dame, across the 
place d'armes, and entirely obstructs the view up 
and down the street. This church is on the out- 
side rude and unsightly. 

The English Cathedral is the finest building in 
Montreal — its tower, which is unfinished, is still in 
progress; this church is very large, but I did not 
learn its dimensions. Those whom we saw attend- 
ing worship in it, were persons of very genteel ap- 
pearance, including many military men, but the 
church would have held ten times as many as were 
present. 

The seminary of St. Sulpice, occupies three 

sides of a square and is one hundred and thirtv-twa, 

32 



370 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

feet by ninety, with spacious gardens. It was 
founded about 1657. 

The new College or Petit Seminaire, is in the 
Recollet suburbs ; it is two hundred and ten feet by 
forty-five, with a wing at each end of one hundred 
and eighty-six feet by forty-five ; it is an appendage 
of the other seminary, and designed to extend its 
usefulness, by enlarging its accommodations. 

There is near the mountain of Montreal, another 
appendage of the seminary. It appears to be about 
a mile from the town — it is a considerable stone 
building surrounded by a massy wall, which enclo- 
ses extensive gardens, &:c. This place was former- 
ly called Chateau des Seigneurs de Montreal, but 
BOW it has the appellation of La Maison des Pretres. 
It is a place of recreation, resorted to, once a week, 
by both the superiors and pupils of the Seminary. 

There is no English College in Canada, but a 
foundation for one has been laid by a gentleman,* 
who died in 1814, and bequeathed ten thousand 
pounds, besides a handsome real estate at the 
mountain near Montreal, " for the purpose of en- 
dowing an English College ; but upon condition 
that such an institution should be erected within 
ten years, otherwise the property was to revert to 
his heirs.'' I have not heard that the plan has ever 
been carried into execution. 

I know nothing that has excited my surprise 
more in Canada, than the number, extent and vari- 

* Hon. James M'GiU. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND <IUBBEC. 371 

ety of the French institutions, many of them intrin- 
sically of the highest importance, and all of them 
(according to their views) possessing that character. 
They are the more extraordinary when we con- 
sider that most of them are more than a century 
old, and that at the time of their foundation the 
Colony was feeble, and almost constantly engaged 
in war. It would seem from these facts, as if the 
French must have contemplated the establishment 
of a permanent and eventually of a great empire in 
America, and this is the more probable, as most of 
these institutions were founded during the ambitious, 
splendid and enterprising reign of Louis XIV. 



NORTH WEST COVIPANY. 

We have heard in the United States, much of tlie 
contests of Lord Selkirk,* with the North West 
Company. Fortunately the Americans, of the 
States, are not involved in the quarcel, but it is solely 
an affair of Briton with Briton. 

We were honored with an introduction to Mr. 
M'Gillivray, who since the death of Mr. M'Tavish, 
is the principal member of the North West Com- 
pany. This gentleman, with plain unassutning but 
courteous manners, and much good sense and worth, 
is highly esteemed in Canada. 

*Thi3 nobleman it seems, has now terminated his contests and 
his mortal career. 



372 TOITR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC.. 

His villa, situated on one of the declivities of the 
mountain, about one mile and an half from the town 
— commandmg a very rich and extensive prospect, 
is one of the most desirable residences, that I have 
ever seen, and appears to possess the charms of a fine 
English country seat, wiih a splendor and extent of 
prospect, of which, (in an equal degree,) England 
can rarely boast. 

Lord Selkirk, it appears, claims, under the old 
Hudson's Bay Company, a territorial right and ju- 
risdiction, over, from one million to one million five 
hundred thousand acres of country, including the 
most important posts of the North West Company. 

This company, it seems, claims no territorial 
rights, except so far as to establish posts and depots, 
necessary to the carrying on of the trade in furs, 
which are their great object, and they entirely deny 
the right of Lord Selkirk, to assume, or of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company to grant a territorial jurisdic- 
tion. The interfering views and arrangements of 
the two parties, it is well known, have already pro- 
duced several severe conflicts, in vvltirh a good 
many lives have been lost. Mr ^i'Gillivray in- 
formed us, that the thing, much to his satisfaction, 
had at last got before parliament, end he hoped 
would now be arranged as it ought to be. 

We were informed that the qiiant.ty of furs fur- 
nished by the Indians, to the North West Company, 
is diminished one half, but Mr. M'Gillivray thought 
this rather fortunate than otherwise, because the im- 



TOUR BETWEEN HAUTFOUD AND QUEBEC. 373 

poverishment of Europe, by its long continued 
course of wars, had so diminished the demand, that 
even now, it was fully supplied, and the only effect 
of throwing more furs into the market, would be to 
diminish the demand, and of course the price. 



ABORIGINES. 

The native nations of this continent, it is true, 
were ferocious and cruel, and in this character, I 
have more than once, in the progress of these re- 
marks, had occasion to stigmatize them. Yet it is 
an interesting, and at the same time a melancholy 
occupation, to remember, that scarcely two centu- 
ries have elapsed, since this continent was occupied 
by its aboriginal inhabitants ; heroic, lofty, free as 
the winds, and ignorant of any foreign masters. 
Now, the sword, and that still greater destroyer, 
which all their courage cannot resist, have almost 
exterminated these once powerful tribes. Their 
lands, it is true, have been in many instances sold, 
to the whites •, sold ! for what consideration ! — 
acres for beads and penknives — provinces for blank- 
ets, and empires for powder, ball and rum. Have 
they retired before the wave of European population, 
and do they now exist in remoter and more happy 
regions, where trader never came, nor white man 
trod ^ No ! those who once occupied the countries 
which the whites now inhabit, are annihilated ; the 

32* ' 



374 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

blast of death has withered their heroic thousands ; 
as nations they have sunk forever into the grave, and 
their dust is mingled with the fields which we culti- 
vate. 

In our older settlements, especially in the Atlantic 
cities, they are now almost as rarely seen, as a white 
man in Tombuctoo, and the few who remain, are 
miserable, blighted remnants of their ancestors, par- 
alyzed and consumed by strong drink, squalid in 
poverty and filth, and sunk by oppression and con- 
tempt. 

Are there any tribes that retain their former ele- 
vation ? A few of them remain in the forests of the 
west and of the north, and some of them find their 
way to the cities of Canada. In the streets of 
Montreal, we saw numbers of these people who had 
come down from the north west, and their appear- 
ance (although even ihey cannot refrain from intox- 
ication) is such, that one who had never seen any 
but the miserable beings who stagger about our At- 
lantic towns, would hardly conceive that they be- 
longed to the same race. Most of them, (females 
as well as males,) are dressed in blue cloth panta- 
loons, with a blue robe or blanket, thrown graceful- 
ly over the shoulder, and belted with a scarlet or 
party coloured girdle, around the waist. They 
wear hats with lace and feathers, and have a supe- 
rior port, as if still conscious of some elevation of 
character. But these ill fated nations will become 
extinct, notwithstanding the efforts of benevolent 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORB AND QUEBEC. 37S 

individuals, especially as manifested by the estab- 
lishments formed in the south western parts of the 
United States, to christianize and civilize ihem ; and 
a heavy reckoning rests on the heads of the civilized 
communities in America, for their cruel treatment of 
the American Aborigines, and of the not less injur- 
ed Africans. 



PLOUGHING MATCH. 

Within a few years, serious efforts have been 
made in Canada, to encourage its agriculture. — 
Colonel O^ilvy, one of the British Commissioners, 
respecting the boundaries.* was among the first to 
encourage agriculture. The late Governors Sher- 
brook and Richmond, are also mentioned with 
great respect, as distinguished patrons of the same 
important interests. 

A society is now organized in Montreal, for the 
same purpose, aud at their instance, a ploughing 
match was set on foot; it occurred the day after 
our return from Quehec. and I rode out to see it. 

Twelve pairs of horses, geared after the English 
manner, dragged as many ploughs, each moving in 
its appointed portion of a large smooth meadow. 
Some of the ploughs were made entirely of iron, 
and had a very light and neat appearance. The 

* The news of whose unfortunate death, while engaged in the 
discharge of the duties of that trust, reached Montreal while we 
were there, and created a strong sensation of grief. 



576 TOUa RETWEEN IJAllTFOKD AND QUEBEC. 

ploughing was very well performed — the furrows 
were almost mathematically strait, and the turf was 
handsomely laid over. I was informed that there 
were three premiums, the highest forty dollars, and 
that they were granted both to excellence and speed 
combined. 



AGRICULTURAL DINNER. 

A great dinner was provided at the Mansion 
House where we lodged, and the friends of agricul- 
ture assembled, to partake of its fruits. Dining in 
support of Ones countrij, and of its important inter- 
ests, is a method of evincing patriotism, so general- 
ly approved, that it rarely wants adherents. Nearly 
forty gentlemen were assembled on the present oc- 
casion, and among them were some of the princi- 
pal people for wealth and influence. 

The dinner hour in Quebec and Montreal is five 
o'clock, but as it is always five till it is six, the time 
of sitting down is usually delayed to near the latter 
hour, and dinner is actually served, for the most part, 
between six and seven o'clock. By invitation we at- 
tended, and in the present instance, sat down at seven 
o'clock ; the dinner, however, with all its appenda- 
ges, was not over till the next day ; viz. till be- 
tween twelve and one o'clock in the morning. I 
need hardly say, that we did not sit ?7 out ; we 
stayed however long enough, to see the peculiari- 
ties of a great dinner in Montreal. 



TOUR BETWEEN HAHTFORD AND (iUEBEC. 377 

The tables were laid in a room of fift* feet in 
length, and we marched into it, to the mu^ic of a 
considerable band — piping and drumming, the fa- 
vourite air, " speed (he plough.^'' 

A large transparency, occupying the space from 
the ceiling of a lofty room, nearly to thv. fioor, es- 
hibited, behind the chair of the President, a view of 
Montreal and of its beautiful mountain. 

The table was spread and decorated in a very 
handsome manner, and all the meats, poultry, wild 
fowl, and vegetables, which are in season in the 
United States, at this time were laid before us, in 
the greatest perfection, both in the articles them- 
selves and in the cookery. The desert was equal- 
ly handsome, and of the same kind as is usual in 
the United States. Who, however, that is unac- 
quainted with Canada, would expect to see the finest 
cantelopes, and the most delicious grapes, the pro- 
duce of the country, and that in the middle of Oc- 
tober? The grapes are raised in the open air,, 
but in winter the vines are not only covored with 
straw, as with us. but with clay more than a foot 
thick, and in the summer, a gr( at proportion of 
the leaves, except near the cluster, is taken off, 
and the vines are prevented from running, by twist- 
ing them. Peaches from the Genesee country, were 
on the table, but they were not particularly good ; 
apples, however, cantelopes. and grapes of the finest 
kind, and in the greatest profusion, have been 
constantly before us in Canada, and have formed a 



378 TOUR BBTWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

part of almost every desert, even in the public 
houses and in the steam boats. " All the usual 
garden fruits, as gooseberries, currants, strawberries, 
raspberries, peaches, apricots and plums, are pro- 
duced in plenty, and it may be asserted truly in as 
much perfection as in many southern climates, or 
even in greater." It is said that the orchards pro- 
duce apples not surpassed in any country. 

The agricultural productions of the country are 
rery fine ; in no respect inferior to those of the 
United States, and they are evidently raised, in 
Lower Canada, in greaterprofusion, and with great- 
re ease, than with us. The market in Montreal, is 
excellent — it contains, according to the season, all 
kinds of meats, with abundance of fowl, game, fish,, 
and vegetables, in fine order. 

The fine champaign country, which occupies so 
large a part of Lower Canada, is exceedingly fer- 
tile, and, although we are accustomed to consider 
the climate as very severe, it is evidently very 
healthy ; with the contrivances which exist here, 
for producing and preserving heat, and for excluding 
cold, the climate is, by all accounts, ver) comforta- 
ble ; and it does not appear, that it prevents the in- 
habitants from enjoying nearly every production of 
the earth, which is known io the Spates bordering 
on Canada. Their potatoes and cauliflowers, are 
particularly good, and are raised with great ease. 

The only article which we have found generally 
bad, in this country, has been bread. The best 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 379 

which we have seen, has been only tolerable, and 
most of it has been so sour, dark coloured, and bit- 
ter, that it took some time to reconcile us to it in any 
degree. We were, beyond measure, astonished 
at the badness of this article, especially as it is so 
good in England, and in the cities of the United 
States, and as so many of the Canadians are perfect- 
ly acquainted with both countries. 

This public dinner was conducted with great de- 
corum and civility. 

After dinner, toasts were drunk, with music ; the 
great personages of the empire, and of the North- 
American colonies, were, of course, toasted, and va- 
rious sentiments were giveninhonour of agriculture. 
Most of them were drunk* standing, and with 
cheers, three, six or nine, according to the intensity 

* There was one circumstance in this dinner, which I have uot 
elsewhere noticed When the toasts were to be cheered, the 
Vice-President, after rising, (and the company with him,) cried 
out, very loud, and with very distinct articulation, and strong em- 
phasis, and a pause between the words — hip ! hip ! hip ! hur- 
ra I hurra! now ! now! now hurra ! again ! again I 

again! hurra! hip ! hip ! hurra ! hurra ! hurra ! &c. — the 

company repeating only the hurra, to which the other words ap- 
peared to be only a watoh word, that all might join in the hurra 
at once. Since this dinner, I am told by an Englishman, that this 
ceremonial is not uncommon at set formal parties in England, but 
I never heard of it while there. 

A Scotch friend informs me that this custom is universal in 
Britain, in large Public Dinners, particularly Political ones. This 
is what is meant when a Toast is said to be drunk with Thrtt 
times Three,it is never called as with us Three Cheers. 



380 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

of feeling, or the dignity of the personages, or popu- 
larity of the sentiment. 

****** 

The Canadians appear very loyal, and we cannot 
be a day in their country, without perceiving in the 
language and manners of the people, that we are 
under a royal government. 

The mansion house, (originally built by Sir John 
Johnson,* son of Sir William Johnson, whose name 
was so famous in the colonies, during the French 
wars,)is the finest establishment of the kind in Can- 
ada, and would be considered as a fine one in Eng- 
land. The house, (as I remarked when here before,) 
is very large, with two wings, lately added, almost 
as extensive as the house itself, and contains ample 
accommodations for public or private parties, for 
balls and assemblies, for individuals or families, and 
is delightfully situated, with its front upon the im- 
mediate bank of the St. Lawrence, where the river, 
and every thing upon it, and much of the surround- 
ing country, is in full view. 



HISTORY, &c. 

After the fall of Quebec, in September, 1759, 
Montreal became the rendezvous of the remaining 
forces of the French, and the Marquis Vaudreuille 

* Who is still living in Montreal, although now an old man. 



TOUR BETAVEEN HARTFORD AND ^tJEREC. 381 

Governor-General of Canada, during the ensuing 
summer of 17G0, made every effort possible, to save 
the country. But, it was all in vain. The force 
which General Amherst commanded, was totally 
superior to all (hat the French General could mus- 
ter. It was not, however, till September, that the 
conquest of Canada was fully accomplished. On 
the sixth of that month, General Amherst, with an 
army of more than ten thousand men, landed at La 
Chine, on the island of Montreal, having prosecuted 
his enterprise, under very great hardships and diffi- 
culties, through the wilderness, (i'om Schenectady 
to Oswego, and down Lake Ontario, and the rapids 
of the St. Lawrence ; on the same day. General 
Murray arrived with his army, from Quebec, and 
the day after. General Haviland, with another ar- 
my from Lake Champlain, appeared at Longueil. 
Thus, by a singular concurrence, (devoutly regard- 
ed at the time, by the good people of the English 
colonies, as peculiarly the result of the favouring 
providence of God,) three powerful armies, amount- 
ing to more than twenty thousand men, arrived, al- 
most at the same hour, from regions widely remote, 
and after encountering peculiar, and great difficul- 
ties. 

Nolhingremainedfor the Marquis do Vaudreuiile, 
surrounded, as he was, by an overwhelming force, 
but to capitulate. Accordingly, on the eighth, ho 
surrendered his army prisoners of war, and with 
them, the whole of Canada and its dependencies. 

33 



382 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

The most honourable terms were granted to him, 
in consequence of the signal gallantry, talent, perse- 
verance, and patriotism, which he had displayed. 
" Thus, in little more than a century and a half 
from its first settlement, in the sixth year of the 
war, after six* general battles, this vast country was 
completely conquered by the conjoined armies of 
Great Britain and her colonies."! 

Montreal was taken by General Montgomery, on 
the thirteenth of November, 1775, but without op- 
position, except that a little before, Governor 
Carleton had been defeated at Longueil, by Colo- 
nel Warner, an event which prepared the way for 
the downfall of St. Johns, and of Montreal itself. 

This city has been, more or less, concerned in 
all the wars of this country, since its foundation; 
but, I am not informed that any very memorable bat- 
tle has been fought in its vicinity. It was never 
very strongly fortified, and, at present, there is not 
even the appearance of fortification ; the old walls 
and forts having been levelled, and even the Cita- 
del-Hill, an artificial mound of commanding eleva- 
tion, which, with vast labor, the French had erected 
in the midst of the city, they are now in the act of 

* Those of Lake George, Ticonderog;a,Niag;ara, Montmorcnci, 
Quebec and Sillery. 

t Trumbull's History of Connecticut. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q.UEBEC. 383 

removing, to make room for a reservoir of water.* 
As at Quebec, I observed great piles of heavy can- 
non, but, probably, they have reference principally 
to naval preparations. 

There is a small body of troops here at present, 
and I had an opportunity of seeing some of them 
parade in the beautiful ground called the Champs 
de Mars. There are extensive stone barracks on 
the St. Lawrence, at the lower end of the city : 
they are occupied by the British troops, but, I pre- 
sume, were erected by the French, as they are in 
their style of architecture. 



CAOTION TO STRANGERS IN CANADA. 

Soon after arriving on the St. Lawrence, almost 
every stranger finds his stomach and bowels deran- 
ged, and a diarrhoea, more or less severe, succeeds. 
The fact is admitted on all hands ; and sometimes 
the complaint becomes very serious, and is said, in 
a few cases, (very peculiar ones, I presume,) to 
have become dangerous, and even fatal. It is im- 
puted to the lime, supposed to be dissolved by the 
St. Lawrence, whose waters are generally used for 
culinary purposes. I have never heard that any 

* I was informed at Montreal, that this was the object of re- 
moving Citadel-Hill ; but a correspondent, since the publication 
of the first edition of this book, suggests that the removal " was to 
open and extend the street, and not to make room for a reservoir 
of water." 



384 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND (QUEBEC. 

chemical examination of the waters has been per- 
formed, but it is evident that it contains something 
foreign, because it curdles soap. It is said that 
boiling makes it harmless. The same thing is as- 
serted of the waters of Holland, which produce 
similar eifects upon strangers. 1 have experienced 
these effects both in Holland, and in Canada ; and Mr. 

W was, in the latter country, more severelj 

affected than myself. 

Strangers from the United States, coming here, 
should be very cautious of their diet, especially as 
the hours are so different from those that prevail 
in most of the States, and as they are even much 
later than those of our cities. The late dinners, 
and the conviviality of Canada, subject a stranger, 
(especially from the eastern States,) to be eating 
meats and drinking wine, when he usually drinki 
tea, and his stomach has been, perhaps, before en- 
teebled by fosting, and is then enfeebled again by 
repletion. The sour bread also appears to have its 
share in producing a derangement of the stomach. 



PECULIAR MODE OF EXTRACTING TEETH. 

Severe suffering from my teeth, while in Mon- 
treal, obliged me to resort to the usual painful rem- 
edy. It was rendered, however, in the present in- 
stance, much less distressing than common, by a 
mode of extraction, which I have never seen prac- 
tised elsewhere. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 385 

A pair of strong hawks-bill forceps, bent at the 
mouth, gently downward, and then inward, and 
terminating in delicate teeth, is applied to the tooth 
to be drawn; no cutting of the gum is practised, 
nor any preparation, except simply to place a small 
piece of wood (pine is commonly used,) between 
the forceps and the jaw, and close to the tooth; 
this stick is the prop — the tooth is the weight to be 
lifted, and the hand applies the power just at the 
end of the lever, that is, at the other end of the for- 
ceps. The pressure is applied downward, if it be 
the lower jaw— upward, if it be the upper jaw, and 
the tooth (without any thing of that horrible crash 
which attends the usual mode of extraction, without 
prying against the jaw, and thus creating danger of 
breaking it, besides producing much pain by the 
pressure on the sides of the socket,) is lifted per- 
pendicularly from its bed ; there is no other vio- 
lence than to break the periosteum, and the con- 
necting vessels and nerves, and the thing is effect- 
ed with comparatively little pain. When it is de- 
sired simply to cut a tooth otf, in order to plug it, 
it is necessary only to compress the instrument, 
without prying. 

It may be supposed that the pressure against the 
jaw, by the prop, must be painful ; on the contrary, 
it is not felt, because the action and re-action are 
exactly equal, between the pressure on the jaw 
and the resistance of the tooth. Dr. Fay, from 

33* 



386 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Vermont, is the person who operates in this ingen- 
ious manner.* 



CATHOLIC WORSHIP. 

This worship is fully maintained in Canada. It 
is said that the Cathohcs of this country even lay 
claim to a greater degree of purity and strictness, 
than those of old France. In other Catholic coun- 
tries, they go from the church (o the theatre, but 
it was stated to us in Montreal, that the Catholic 
priests do not permit their people to attend the 
theatres, and that it is very rare that a Catholic is 
seen in them in Canada. 

We visited numbers of their houses of worship, 
and, even in their villages, these houses are deco- 
rated with pictures, and considerably ornamented 
in their finishing. We never entered one of them, 
without finding people at their devotions. They 
cross themselves with holy v/alcr, and then, with 
much apparent seriousness, repeat their prayers 
silently, moving their lips only. As in other Cath- 
olic countries, the people here are said to be very 
ignorant of the scriptures, but of this 1 can say 
nothing from personal knowledge. 

The Catholic cathedrals at Montreal and Que- 
bec, are splendidly ornamented with a profusion of 
pictures, images and gilding, and the dresses worn 

* I am aware that the thing has been attempted in other modes, 
but I believe in none so simple and effectual. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 387 

by the ecclesiastics and attendants in the cathedral 
in Montreal, are very showy and costly, being com- 
posed of silk, curiously embroidered, and flowered 
with many colors, and with gold. There was wor- 
ship at this cathedral, before the hour of the Pro- 
testant service, and w^e were present a part of the 
time. The building is very large, but it w^as crowd- 
ed to overflowing ; every alley and nook was filled, 
and the utmost attention and seriousness appeared 
in the congregation. The preacher pronounced a 
discourse* in French, in a very animated and im- 
pressive manner, and it was considered as an elo- 
quent performance, and in very good classical 
French. His private character also was said to be 
excellentj 

Nine tenths of all the population here are Cath- 
olics, and, in every village, the cross is seen dis- 
played in some conspicuous place ; it is commonly 
made of wood, and is frequently surmounted by a 
crown of thorns. The Catholic clergy of Canada 
are highly spoken of by the Protestants, and, al- 
though there may be exceptions, they are said gen- 
erally to exert a salutary influence over the com- 
nnon people. Articles of property which have been 
stolen, are frequently riiturned, unsolicited, to the 
proper owners, and that through the intervention of 
the priests. 

* His object was to recommend the exampk of Christ to the 
imitation of his audieace. 



388 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

The Catholic Church in Canada is opulent. Its 
principal source of revenue is from the lodes et 
venies, or fines of alienation, wiiich is a certain per 
centage on the sale of real estate. It was stated to 
us as being in Montreal eight per cent, on the sales 
of all real estates in the seigniory ; that is, in the 
whole island, which is thirty miles long by ten and 
a half wide. The Catholic Church* is the seignieur 
to this seigniory. The per centage is paid by the 
purchaser, and is repeated every time the estate is 
sold. This enormous charge is not, however, fully 
enforced ; the clergy are glad to compound for tive 
per cent, and it is even, in some instances, evaded 
or refused altogether, and I believe it is rarely en- 
forced by law, although it is understood that the 
right is complete. Perhaps the clergy may feel 
a delicacy in prosecuting an unpopular claim, under 
a government, which, although it protects them 
fully in their rights, and exercises towards them a 
perfect toleration, is of a different religious order. 
It is a strange fact, not only that the Catholics of 
Britain and Ireland, but even other sectaries from 
the established church, do not experience, at home, 
any thing like the toleration which is enjoyed by the 
Catholics in Canada; rather, it would almost seem 
as if the latter were, in Canada, the established 

* Bouchette states 'that this property belongs to the Seminary 
of St. Sulpice, but this is, I suppose, only another name for its 
belonging to the clergy, who are the fathers and directors of the 
institutien. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 38S 

church still, and that the Protestant Episcopal, and 
other denominations, were the tolerated sects. The 
present Speaker of the House of Commons in Low- 
er Canada, is a Catholic. 

I have already remarked that we attended wor- 
thip in a very large Episcopal Church recently 
erected, and although the building does honour to 
Montreal, it was by no means so well filled as the 
Catholic Cathedral. 

Indeed, it is wonderful that sixty years of sub- 
jection to a foreign power have not done more to 
weaken the French establishments and institutions 
in Canada. They not only remain for the most 
part, but seem, in many instances, to have gained 
vigor, and every thing still bears a thousand times 
more the appearance of a French than of an Eng- 
lish country. This is not more apparent in any 
thing, than in the general prevalence of 

THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. 

This is altogether the prevailing tongue of the 
towns, and the invariable language of the villages. 
In the streets, both in town and country; in the 
steam-boats ; in the markets ; and, in short, every 
where, you hardly ever hear any thing but French. 
All people of business, of education, of fashion and 
influence, speak both languages; and we were in- 
formed, that the proceedings of all courts, and all 
pleadings and arguments in them, are carried on in 



390 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

both. The common people in the towns generally 
speak both ; many of those who come to market 
also ; but in the villages we more generally found 
that they spoke French only. 

It is conceded, I believe, that the French gentry 
in Canada speak and write the language with purity. 
We heard an eminent French gentleman, at the 
agricultural dinner, sing 'God save the King' in 
French; but it is often said, that the common 
French Canadians speak only a spurious and cor- 
rupted French, having only a remote resemblance 
to that of France. But there seems reason to doubt 

the correctness of this opinion. Mr. W , who, 

in youth, learned to speak the French language in 
France, not only found no difficulty in conversing 
with the common people — (and we had considera- 
ble intercourse with them) — but he gives it as his 
opinion, that the French spoken by them is, if any 
thing, more pure than that used by the country peo- 
ple of France, and that it is as good as the English 
spoken by the common classes of society in the 
United States. In many instances, the phraseolo- 
gy of the country people was considered as remark- 
ably apposite, and even occasionally, elegant. I 
have already quoted the opinion of Charlevoix on- 
this point; and there seems to have been, in thjs 
respect, very little change, since his tinae. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 391 

FRENCH POPULATION— THEIR MANNERS, COSTUME 
VILLAGES, POLITICAL SITUATION, &c. 

Colonel Bouchette states the population of Low- 
er Canada at three hundred and thirty-five thous- 
and ; and of this number, two hundred and sev- 
enty five thousand are French.* It is, therefore, 
still a French country, and it is surprising, that in 
more than half a century so little impression has 
been made on their peculiar characteristics. 

In the lower province, v>'here they are almost ex- 
clusively found, the soil is generally luxuriant ; they 
inhabit, for the most part, the rich alluvia! soil by 
which the St, Lawrence, the Sorel, and other prin- 
cipal waters, are so extensively bordered. Their 
subsistence is easily obtained — there are scarcely 
any marks of extreme poverty among them, and a 
mendicant we never saw while in the country. — 
They are, however, generally without enterprise, 
and are satisfied to go on without change, from gen- 
eration to generation. There is much reason to be- 
lieve, that they give a very just exhibition of the 
French people in the provinces from which they 
emigrated, as they were two hundred years ago. I 
speak of the common people. They are more like 
an European peasantry, than any thing in this coun- 
try : I mean in North America. They are truly a 
peasantry, except that they are vastly superior to 
European peasantry in comforts and in privileges. 

* In 1663, it contained 7000 souls ; in 1714, 20,000 ; in 1759, 
70,000 ; in 1773, 90,000, including upper Canada— Soi.c/i€//e. 



392 TOUR BETWEEN ilARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

It is questionable, whether ady conquered coun- 
try was ever better treated by its conquerers. They 
were left in complete possession of their religion, 
and of the revenues to support it ; of their property, 
Jaws, customs, and manners ; and even the very 
governing* and defending of the country is almost 
without expense to them. They are said to pay 
no taxes to government, and none of any descrip- 
tion, except a trifling sum of a few shillings a year 
to their seigneurs, as an acknowledgment for the 
tenure of their lands, and a twenty sixth part of 
their grain to the clergy, with certain liabilities to 
contribute to the repair of churches, and various 
other public objects. 

With the affairs of government they give them- 
selves little concern ; and it is a curious fact, if cor- 
rectly stated to us by various intelligent men in 
Canada, that this country, so far from being a source 
of revenue, is an actual charge upon the treasury of 
the empire. 

It would seem as if the trouble and" expense of 
government were taken off their hands, and as if 

* Remarks by a British frienil. — Lower Canada now, 1821 
pays its own Civil List, but all the military establishment is at 
the expense of the Home Government : and no advantage of a pe- 
cuniary kind is derived from our N. American Colonies. Even 
the timber has been proved before Parliament to br? so inferior, 
that this year a lax has been laid upon it, to mrtke it more equal 
in this respect witli the Baltic timber, which is much superior in 
quality, but was excluded in a great measure from our markets by 
a prohibitory duty. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 393 

they were left to enjoy their own domestic comforts 
wifhout a drawback. Such is certainly the appear- 
ance of the population, and it is doublful whether 
even our own favored communities are politically 
more happy. It is evident that the Canadians are 
abundantly more so, than the mass of the English 
population at home. They are not exposed, in a 
similar manner, to poverty, and the danger of starva- 
tion, which so often invade the Enelish manufac- 
turin^f districts, and which, aided by their dema- 
gogues, goad them on to e\ery thing but open re- 
bellion. 

Such is the richness of the soil in Lower Cana- 
da, that the farmers are said even to be afraid of 
raising too much produce, lest the price should fall. 
They have so little occasion to n>anure their 
grouiids. that stable manure, as we were assured, 
is, in the winter — even now, and it was much more 
the fact formerly — carried on to the river, and left 
in heaps on the ice, that they may get rid of it as a 
nuisance ; and, in general, it c;innot be given away 
— people will not remove it without being paid for 
their labor. Such negligence and bad farnting are 
much to be regretted ; for even the island of Mon- 
treal, beautiful as it is, would certainly be the bet- 
ter for the manure which is annually thrown away, 
and I trust their new agricultural society will soon 
teach the people a better lesson on this subject, 
and prevent their wasting so rich a treasure. 

34 



394 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND <4UEBE«. 

In the costume of the French gentry in Canada, 
there is nothing peculiar. The peasantry frequent- 
ly wear a blue or red woollen cap, falling back in a 
pendant cone, and many of them wear a red or 
party-colored woollen sash around their waists. — 
They are very fond of tobacco, and are frequently 
observed smoking with a short pipe, while the) are 
walking or driving their carts. We were sufficient- 
ly amused, at seeing a common Frenchman driving 
a cart of dry straw in the streets of Montreal, while 
he was sitting immediately before it, smoking his 
pipe quite unconcerned, although a strong wind 
was blowing the sparks directly towards the straw. 
A day or two after, we met another, also smoking, 
and with the utmost sang froid, sitting in the midst 
of his load of straw. 

We visited a number of villages, and went into 
several houses of the peasantry, besides looking 
into many others, particularly around Quebec, the 
delightful weather causing them to throw their win- 
dows v/ide open. Most of the cottages are con- 
structed of logs, nicely squared, and laid up ; the 
angles are framed or halved together, the seams are 
made tight by plaister, good windows and doors are 
fitted in, the roofs are generally of shingles, the 
whole is tight against the weather, and neatly white- 
washed, roof and all ; at least, this is commonly 
the fact on the St. Lawrence. 1 have already men- 
tioned that the better sort of cottages are built of 
stone, sometimes covered with cement and some- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 395 

times not. Inside, the houses appear very comfort- 
able : they are plastered or wainscoated, and each 
mansion is furnished with an ample stove, usually 
standir g in the middle of a large room, or in the 
partition of two, or in the common angle of several. 
There are large out houses, barns, &;c. built in much 
the same manner as the houses. 

We had occasion several times to call at the hous- 
es of the peasantry for milk, or something else that 
we wanted. The milk was very rich, and for a 
trifle, was bountifully furnished. The manners of 
the French in Canada, are extremely courteous and 
kind ; those of the gentry are of course polished, 
but the common people, also, have a winning gen- 
tleness and suavity, and a zealous forwardness to 
serve you, which, particularly in the villages, de- 
lighted us very much. Even the common " oui 
Monsieur,''^ is uttered in a manner so different from 
the blunt coldness of our common people, who fre- 
quently also forget the Monsieur, that we were 
much struck with the difference.* 

The women, of course, excel the men, in all that 
is bland in manner, and obliging in conduct; there 
is al»o a lady-like self-possession about themj they 
do not appear at all embairassed, by the questions 
of a stranger, but answer them with the ease and 
politeness of higher life, without relinquishing the 
simplicity of manners appropriate to their own con- 

* We were treated with much kinduess by all classes of people 
in Canada. 



396 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEFiEC. 

dition. If would seem from the citations which I 
have made from Charlevoix, that there have heen 
in these respects, no serious changes in a century. 
After our visit to the Chaudiere, being late and in 
haste, we asked for some milk at a peasant's door, 
without meaning to go in; the milk was instantly 
produced, but we must not drink it at the door; 
"etilrez Monsieur," '^entrez Monsieur," was kind- 
ly ri'peated by the woman of the house, and we 
went in; she seated us around a table, and furnish- 
ed us with a bowl of tine milk, and with tumblers 
to drink it out of. 

Mr. W was much gratified to find that the 

manners of the peasantry of Canada remained pre- 
cisely like those of France. Like the people of 
the parent country, they continue very fond of mu- 
sic : we frequently heard the violin in the streets 
of tlie towns and villages. At Beauport, we saw 
them daiicing merrily at a wedding, which had just 
been celebrated at noon day, and the bride and 
bridegroom were walking home, neatly dressed, 
hand in hand, and with a cheerful air. 

There are May poles in most of their villages; 
some of them are very high, and splendidly painted ; 
they voluntarily erect them as a mark of respect be- 
fore the door of the man in the village, whom they 
wish to honour as their best citizen, and t^aily 
dance around them on the first of May. They 
are very fond of dogs — in the towns, thf^y are from 
their numbers, a perfect nuisance, and lately at Que- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qUEBEC. 397 

bee. a verdict of fifty pounds, was given by a jury, 
for the shooting of a dog by a gentlemar. at whom 
he flew. The deaih of the Duke of Richniond, 
seems not to have excited any particular dread of 
dogs. .# 



Lower Canada is a fine country, and will hereaf- 
ter become populous and powerful, especially as 
the British and Anglo-American population shall 
flow in more extensively, and impart more vigour 
and activity to the community. 

The climate, notwithstanding its severity, is a 
good one and very healthy, and favorable to the 
freshness and beauty of the human complexion. 
All the most important comforts of life are easily 
and abundantly obtained, although the expenses of 
living are high, considering the fertility of the 
country. 

A more correct knowledge of Canada, is now 
fast diffusing itself through the American States, 
since the intercourse is become so easy, and I be- 
lieve few Americans from the States, now visit this 
country, without returning more favourably impress- 
ed, respecting it than they expected to be. It will 
be happy if Iriendly sentiments and the interchange 
of mutual courtesie'i shall do away the unfoimded 
Impressions and prejudices of both communities. 
Commercial intercourse between the two countries, 

34* 



398 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

is also important, and I presunDe, mutually advanta- 
geo^is, and will probably continue to increase* 
The commercial men in Canada are principally 
British and American. 



DEPARTURE FROM CANADA. 

We left Montreal on the morning; of the four- 
teenth, in a thick snow, which however soon, ceas- 
ed ; the crystals of snow were all single prisms, or 
two prisms, united at an angle, and not the usual 
star of six rays. TJie first snow of the season fell 
the day before, when I was on the mountain of 
Montreal. 

The country and the appearance of the people 
between Montreal and St. Johns, on the river Sor- 
el, a distance of twenty-seven miles, are so similar 
to what I have a'ready described, that I find little 
to add. 

From Montreal to Chambly, fifteen miles, is a 
perfectly flat alluvial country, with a deep rich soil, 
and appears to have been a mere swamp, till cul- 
tivation had redeemed it. The road has been made 
by ditching and emb 'nkntient, and considering the 
nature of the countrv, the road is not bad. 

Chambiy is a considerably jarge town, for Cana- 
da ; contains a few good r»nd some handsome houses, 
extensive barracks,* both for infantry and cavalry, 
and a few troops. 

* Erected, principally, during the late war, when it was a 
great military station. 



TOUR BETWEEIi HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 399 

There is here an interesting remnant of the old 
French dominion. It is a square fort of stone, 
probably forty feet high, and two hundred feet on 
the ground, on each of its sides. It has square 
towers, projecting from each of its angles, so that 
every approach to it could be completely enfiladed 
by three tiers of cannon. We were permitted to 
visit the inside, which is a square open to the 
heavens, although the walls are so thick, as to con- 
tain numerous enclosed apartments- Tl)e French 
mi'itary w oiks, in this country are highly respecta- 
ble, considering the immaturity of the country, when 
they were erected, and the length of time that has 
elapsed since most of them were constructed. The 
fort, (or perhaps it might more properly be called 
the Castle) of Chambly has the date 1711, cut in 
the stone near the portcullis. This fortress was 
taken by General Montgomery, in 17,5, previously 
to the surrender of the Fort at St. Johns. 

At Chambly, the river Sorei, which both above 
and below is sluggish, (at least it is so, near its 
mouth and at St. John's) becomes very lively, roar- 
ing over a rocky bottom and forming a pretty, al- 
though not an impetuous rapid. In the only place 
upon its banks, where I had an opportunity to see 
any of the rocks, they were flat secondary lime- 
stone, covered by slate. 

From Chambly to St. Johns, twelve miles, there 
is a beautifil country, al>ng the bank of the river; 
the population is a numerous one, and in summer, 



400 TOUR BETWEEN UARTFOUD AND QUEBEC. 

this must be one of the finest rides that a flat coun- 
try can present. 

Near Chatnbly, but on the other side of the rivec, 
there is a large and handsome house, belonging to 
General Christie Burton, who has there an estab- 
lishment of mills. 

We arrived in the town of St. John's in the after- 
noon. We were very comfortably accommodated 
at Cameron's Inn ; but St. John's is a place in 
which a stranger will not wish to remain long. Al- 
though the country is fertile about it, its appearance 
is mean, dirty and disagreeable. A few troops are 
stationed here, but the ancient fort, which was very 
extensive, and still looks very venerable, with its 
high earthen walls and falling barracks, is an interes- 
ting ruin. It was captured in 1775 by General 
Montgomery, after a gallant defence, and a consid- 
erably protracted seige. 

This place was an important post during the 
French wars, and even during the revolutionary 
war: the same was true of Chambly, and both have 
been taken and retaken, although I do not remem- 
ber any very memorable event, that has signalized 
their transfer from one power to another. 

In wandering about the ruins of the fort, I ob- 
served the cenn.'tery of the garrison ; their monu- 
ments are boards painted black, and the inscription 
is in white painted letters. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD ANn QlTEriEC. 401 



October 15. — At eight o'clock in the morning, we 
left St. John's in the steam boal Congress, and al- 
though encountering both an opposing wind and 
current, we swept along with great rapidity, in one 
of the swiftest and best boats that 1 have ever seen. 
She is not large, but is fitted up with great neat- 
ness, and every thing about her is in tine order. 

We soon passed the Isle aux Noix, which, as 
observed in the passage down, has also been cele- 
brated in the military history of these countries, and 
is now fortified and occupied by a considerable 
force. Troops appeared to be engaged in throw- 
ing up additional works. There are large bar- 
racks on this island, and numbers of officers reside 
here, on this low spot of only eighty-five acres, in 
what appears to be a gloomy exile. This isiand is 
particularly important to the naval command of. 
Lake Champlain, and here the unfortunate Captain 
Downie's squadron was fitted out. 

In passing into Canada, I remarked, that the 
country on both sides of the river, quite to the 
lake, is a dismal low swamp, with only inconsider- 
able clearings and settlements. It is said, howev- 
er, to be heahhy. 

At Rouse's Poini\ at the confluence of the river 
Sorel with Lake Champlain, we again passed the 
strong stone work recently erected by the United 



402 TOUR BETWEEN HAHTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

States to command the river, and now about to fall 
to the British government. 

Once more we were in our own waters, and in a 
short time passed around Cumberland Head, which 
is composed of flat strata of secondary limestone. 



PLATTSBURGH BAY. 

The fine capacious Bay of Plattsburgh was now 
before us, and the town of the same name. The 
important military events which have occurred 
here, are too recent and familiar to make any very 
particular notice of them necessary. This is still 
a military station, and when one sees the position 
occupied by the British army before it in 1814, 
and contemplates their numbers, compared with 
the feeble force which so gallantly opposed them, 
he is astonished that they did not at once storm and 
carry the forts, and atmihilate all opposition. Ev- 
ery one here says that they might, with the great- 
est ease, have done it.* We were on shore, and 
visited some of the works. 

We learned the exact position of Commodore 
Macdonougji's fleet, and passed over this portion 
of the bay. We conversed with numbers of per- 

* ft doufitless would have been atl^'inpted, ha'l the fleet been 
Ticlor'uus; but after its destruction, the acquisition of the forts 
would perhaps have been of little use. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 403 

sons who were witnesses of the action, and some of 
whom were on board immediately after it was ter- 
minated. We passed close to the small island, call- 
ed Crab Island, to which the dead and wounded of 
both fleets were carried, and which was the com- 
mon grave of hundreds of friends and foes. The 
particular details of the scenes of horror which at- 
tended and succeeded the battle — of the shocking 
mutilations of the human form, in every imaginable 
mode and decree, and of the appalling display on the 
beach, of so many bodies, dead and wounded, pre- 
paratory to their conveyance either to the hospital 
or to the grave, I shall, for very obvious reasons, 
omit. Even now, their bones, slightly buried on a 
rocky island, are partly exposed to view, or, being 
occasionally turned up by the roots of the trees, 
blown down by the wind, shock the beholder; and 
the buttons, and other parts of their clothes, (for 
the military dresses in which they were slain, were 
also their winding sheets,) are often seen above 
ground. Long may it be, ere the waters of this 
now peaceful lake are again crimsoned with hu- 
man blood ! 

One remarkable fact I shall mention, on the au- 
thority of an American surgeon, who attended up- 
on the wounded of both fleets. The Americans re- 
covered much faster than the British, where their 
injuries were similar; healthy granulations formed, 
and the parts united and healed more readily. This 
was imputed to the different state of mind in the 
victors and in the vanquished. 



404 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD ANIJ QUEBEC. 

ANECDOTES. 

A British officer in Canada, of his own accord, 
spoke to me in the highest terms of the American 
navy, and of its officers. He mentioned Captain 
H'sl) particularly, with a franknes? of conimcnda- 
tioji, that was equally honorable to himself, and to 
the subject of his praise. He said that an officer of 
the Guerriere, who was on board of that frigate 
when she was captured by Captain Hull, narrated 
to him the circumstance to which 1 am about to 
allude. 

It will be remembered, that Captain Hull was 
standing before the wind, a little east of north, with 
all sail set, when he descried the Guerriere, under 
double reefs, standing on a wind, to the southward 
and westward. The Constitution then hauled to, 
shortened sail, and prepared for action ; immedi- 
ately after which, she resumed her course before 
the wind, and commenced bearing down upon the 
Guerriere. The latter ship having tacked, so as 
to bring h«!r bowsprit to the northward and east- 
ward, having her main top-sail aback, and being 
about two miles distant, (that is, at long cannon 
shot,) fired her broadside, but it was not returned 
by the Constitution. The Guerriere then wore, 
as short round as possible, and gave her antagonist 
the other broadside ; still the fire was not returned ; 
but Captain Hull, with hi^ ship in fighting dim, con- 
tinued to bear down upon his adversary, who, find- 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD ANU QUEBEC. 405 

iiitj that he was thus pressed, continued, on his part, 
to wear and to fire, first one broadside and then the 
other; to all this, however, Captain Hull paid no 
attention, but continuing; to recieve the fire of the 
Guerriere without returning it, pressed forward, 
till he was now very near. The Guerriere then 
put before the wind, to make a runniiig fight, and 
the Constitution followed on, directly astern, till 
findina; that the Guerriere would outsail her, she 
spread more canvass, when she gained so fast upon 
the chase, that she was soon enabled to take her 
position upon the larboard side of her antagonist, 
and to deliver her fire at very close quarters, when 
the mizen-mast of the Guerriere was shot away. 
It was this crisis of the affair that excited so much 
admiration among the British officers. They ima- 
gined, that it was in the power of Capt. Hull, to 
choose whether he would tack, and lie across the 
stern of his adversary, so as to rake her with com- 
parative impunity; — or to shoot along side, and 
thu< give his antagonist an opportunity to defend 
herself. The Constitution had, as yet, sustained 
very little damage, and it was obviously the inten- 
tion of her brave commander, not to give his fire, 
till he could come to close quarters. The British 
officers considered it as giving also to the Guerriere, 
an opportunity of defending herself. "It was the 
noblest thing (added a gentleman with whom I was 
conversing.) that was ever done in a naval con- 
vict." — The compliment thus paid to the magna- 

35 



406 TOUR BETWEEN' HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

nimity of Capt. Hull, however gratifying to an 
American, must not be admitted, without some 
qualification — whatever might have been the im- 
pressions of the British officers, the opinion of na- 
val men of the first eminence in this country, is, 
that Capt. Hull chose the position, best fitted to 
accomplish his object, and that in no part of this 
conflict, did he give even a momentary advantage 
to his enemy. The result of this battle is well 
known — the ships continued fighting, at close quar- 
ters, till the Constitution, attempting to lay the 
Guerriere aboard on the larboard bow, shot a head 
and crossed her bows, when her main and mizen- 
mast fell, and she struck her colours.* 

A gentleman at Montreal, mentioned to us, that a 
public dinner was given at Terrebonne, a small 
town a little way below Montreal, to Commodore 

* Upon preparing the former edition of this work, my im- 
pressions coincided with those of the British officers — but a more 
minute examination since, of the circumstances of the action, 
(with the aid of the opinions of some of the ablest naval men in 
this country,) has induced me to adopt a different opinion. I 
understand, that the speedy fall of the masts ol the Guerriere 
was the effect of marksmnnship, and not an accidental result of 
random firing. The crew of the Guerriere appear to have been, 
in some measure, disconcerted, by their previous efforts in wear- 
ing so often, and in firing so many broadsides, and by the 
singularly cool and undaunted manner in which the Constitution 
bore down upon them. It is a fact that they fired badly, both as 
to rapidity and direction, and often did not even run their guns 
out of their port holes, but tore their own wooden walls with 
their own discharges. — 1824. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORU AND (QUEBEC. 407 

Biarclay, after his signal defeat by Commodore Per- 
ry on Lake Erie. Barclay, who was sadly cut to 
pieces by wounds, of which he was hardly recover- 
ed, and his- remaining arm (for he had lost the oth- 
er before,) being suspended in a sling, gave as a 
volunteer toast, "Commodore Perry — the brave 
and humane enemy." Commodore Barclay then 
entered into a detailed account of Perry's treatment 
of himself, and of the other wounded and prisoners, 
who fell into his hands; and in narrating the story, 
[ic became himself so deeply affected, that the tears 
flowed copiously down his cheeks. The audience 
were scarcely less moved; and how could it be 
otherwise, when the speaker, who, but a few weeks 
before, had, without dismay, faced the tremendous 
cannonade of his enemy, could not now, without 
tears of admiration and gratitude, relate his deeds 
of kindness to himself and his companions, when 
suffering under wounds and defeat. O! this was a 
nobler triumph for Perry, than the victory which 
God granted to his arms! 



Scarcely had we been gratified by the above 
anecdote, when the New-York newspapers, which, 
in our parlour at Montreal, we were cheerfully pe- 
rusing, informed us, that the brave, magnanimous, 
and gentle Perry, had fallen — not in battle on the 
water, but by a fever, in a foreign land. The news 
would have been sufficiently painful at home, but 



408 TOUR BETWEEN IIARTFORW AND QUEKEC. 

among strangers, add those who were so recently 
our public enemies, it gave us a severe shock : we 
not only felt that it was a public loss, but we nei- 
ther could realize, nor wished to do so,. that it was 
not our own private bereavement. Few men of 
his age, have done more to serve and honour their 
country than Perry, although we must still regret 
that he gave his sanction to duelling. 



After a rapid sail across the lake, and seeing the 
spot where the I'lioenix was burnt, and, at a greater 
distance, the rocky channel through which General 
Arnold in 1776, escaped the pursuit of the British 
fleet, we arrived, early in the evening, at Burling- 
ton, where the carriage was in waiting to receive us. 

Before leaving the steam-boat Congress, 1 will 
remark, that, under the auspices of her present 
commander, the younger Captain Sherman, who 
also commanded the Phoenix when she was de- 
stroyed, vigorous measures have been adopted to 
prevent a recurrence of a similar accident, and that 
we were much pleased with his management of the 
boat. 



TOUR BETWEEN HAllTFOUD AND QUEllEC. 409 



BURLINGTON, IN VERMONT, TO HANOVER, IN NEW- 
HAMPSHIRE, 84 MILES. 

We were on the road three days, and, as it is 
not remarkably interesting, except for its wild Al- 
pine scenery, I shall give but a sketch of it. 

Burlington is one of the most beautiful villages in 
New-England. It stands on a bay, of the same 
name, is a port of entry, and has a population of 
probably nearly two thousand. Rising rapidly 
from the lake, and occupying the declivity and top 
of a high hill — abounding with elegant houses — 
generally large, and painted white — having several 
handsome public buildings, and (the most conspic- 
uous and commanding of them all,) a college, situa- 
ted on the most elevated ground, three hundred and 
thirty feet above the surface of the water; the im- 
pressions which it makes on a stranger, are very 
agreeable, and the more so, as it is scarcely forty 
years since this region was a wilderness. Its build- 
ings are, a court-house, a jail, an academy, a col- 
lege, two handsome houses of public worship, one 
hundred and sixty dwelling-houses, and forty-three 
stores, offices, and mechanics' shops. It is the 
most commercial place on the lake.* 

The college edifice, is a brick building, one hun- 
dred and sixty feet long, from forty-five to seventy- 
five wide, and four stories high. This institution 

* Worcester's Gazetteer. 
35* 



410 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AN'D QUEBEC. 

was founded in 1791, under the appellation of the 
University of Vermont. The building is commo- I 
dious; it contains about fifty private rooms, and 
good public apartments. This edifice stands in a 
most delightful situation, and from the top of it, to 
which I ascended, there is a grand and extensive 
prospect, although, in the present instance, it was 
obscured by a fog. The number of students was 
stated to me, by one of the tutors, to be from thirty 
to forty.* It is well known that, in the Vermont 
republic of letters, there is a divisum imperium, and 
that the two rival institutions of Middlebury and 
Burlington, have long contended for pre-eminence. 

It does not become a stranger to make any other 
remark, than that, in a state of no greater popula- 
tion, the united efforts of all the friends of learning 
are not more than sufficient to sustain one institu- 
tion, as it ought to be supported ; it is to be hoped 
therefore, that Vermont may, in due time, combine 
all her efforts, and blend her two institutions into 
one. 

Burlington college has a library of about eight or 
nine hundred volumes, and a small apparatus. It 
is but just recovering from a state of partial disor- 
ganization, produced by the late war, when, for a 
season, the building was occupied by troops of the 
United States, and Mars put the muses to flight. 
The concession, however, it was understood, was 

* The number in Oct. 1823, was 53 classical, and 55 medical 
students. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 411 

not compulsory, and was handsomely paid for by 
the general government. The faculty, when full, 
consists of a President, five professors, and two tu- 
tors. At present, there is a President,* one pro- 
fessor, and, I believe, two tutors, who constitute the 
actual faculty of the institution. 

It is worth a journey across the green mountains, 
which occupy almost the entire breadth of Ver- 
mont, and from which the state derives its name, to 
see the grand views which they present. 

There is in fact, a succession of mountains, one, 
two, three, and four thousand feet high ; not here 
and there a single peak, but a vast billowy ocean, 
swelled into innumerable pointed waves, and bold 
ridges, and scooped into deep hollows. 

There were but few precipices of naked rock ; 
most of the sides of the mountains were in full for- 
est, and the varied hues of the leaves of the maple 
and oak, now beginning to receive the first influ- 
ence of frost, were finely contrasted with the bright 
evergreens. 

According to the barometrical measurement of 
Captain Partridge, the Camel's Rump, twenty miles 
east by south from Burlington, is about four thou- 
sandf feet high, and many others approach this ele- 
vation. 

* The Rev. Dr. Austin— now (1824,) Rev. Daniel Haskel and 
six professors, including four in the medical department. 

t Three thousand four hundred. — Worcester's Gazetteer. 



412 TOUn nETWEEN lIAUTPOriD AND QtJEnEC. 

The day was somewhat obscured by rain, mist, 
and clouds, which, while they did not screen the 
mountains from our view, added a gloomy gran- 
deur to the scerse, and seemed the appropriate dra- 
pery of such Alpine regions. 

Most of the country is still unsubdued by the 
plough. Innumerable stumps, the remains of the 
pristine forest, deform the fields — pines, and other 
trees, girdled, dry, and blasted, by summer's heat, 
and winter's cold — scorched and blackened, by 
fire, or piled in confusion, on fields, cleared, half 
by the axe, and half by burning — numerous log 
houses, of a rude construction, and incomparably 
inferior to the snug cottages of the Canadian peas- 
antry—all these, and many other objects, indicate 
a country, in some parts at least, imperfectly sub- 
dued by man. 

Along the Onion river, however, and its branch- 
es, we found much clear, good land; on the sides 
of the mountains, many fields fit for pasturage, and, 
almost every where, fine cattle and sheep, but very 
little ploughed land ; every few miles also, we came 
to good houses, and a few villages, occurred on the 
journey. 

At Montpelier, in a low valley, forty miles from 
the lake, we found the legislature of Vermont con- 
vened. 

Montpelier is a small, and rather neat village, of 
about one hundred families ; the township, in which 
it is situated, contains nearly two thousand people; 



TOUIi BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 413 

but this place is so secluded, that it seems as if the 
governmetit had sou<i;ht retirement, more than pub- 
licity, in fixing itself here. It is probable, howev- 
er, that it was rather a regard to a centra! position, 
as this place is only tem miles from the centre of 
the State. 

At a little village, where we attended public wor- 
ship, in a very stormy day, we found a very thin 
congregation, but, in a new house, of considerable 
size, and much ornamented within, although, in 
wha( would, perhaps be by some, esteemed an erro- 
neous taste. It was, however, honourable to the 
public spirit of the vicinity. 

We were much impressed in Canada, with the 
devout appearance of the Catholics in their reli- 
gious assemblies, and cannot but think, that in this 
respect, they have the advantage, not only of most of 
the Protestant congregations, in which we have been 
present during our journey, but also of the greater 
part of those, with which we have been, elsewhere, 
conversant, in Protestant countries. 

The Canadian Catholic seems, at least, to be de- 
vout, while, in our protestant assemblies, how often 
do we see, if not levity, at least vacancy, languor, 
and apathy, and how few appear to be, really in ear- 
nest. If we say that the Catholic is so in appear- 
ance Only, he may reply, with a force which it will 
not be easy to obviate, that there is no reason what- 
ever to infer the reality, where there is not so much 
as the external derorvm of worship. 



414 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

The roads were good through our whole journey 
to Hanover, except the effects of recent rains, and 
considering the mountainous nature of the country. 

Wherever practicable, they have followed the riv- 
er courses along the alluvial bottoms, and, where 
they have wound around the hills, it is done with 
great skill and judgment. Very frequently, we rode 
for miles, on precipices, where the descent was, for 
a great many yards down, almost perfectly abrupt, 
and a slight deviation would have been fatal. 

When we arrived at the height of land, which 
was about sixty miles from the lake, the streams, 
now tending towards the Connecticut, indicated our 
course, and, for six or seven miles, we descended 
with great rapidity, the carriage almost constantly 
urging the horses forward, and, at last, we found 
lodgings in the beautiful valley of Chelsea, complete- 
ly environed by mountains, which, being free from 
wood, and prettily dotted, here and there, with 
flocks of sheep, reminded me powerfully of the 
Derbyshire scenery. 

The village was very neat, with one of the best 
inns which we had seen ; we were received with 
the kindness of a home, and with almost all its com- 
forts. 

'Ihe next day, (October 18th,) we arrived at 
Hanover, in New-Hampshire, having crossed the 



TOUR BETWEEN HAllTFORD AND QUEBEC. 415 

Connecticut river, from the handsome town of Nor- 
wich,* on a bridge. 



.GEOLOGY. 

The geology of the region over which we had 
passed, is simple and grand. About seven miles 
east of the lake, the primitive country begins, and 
the fixed rocks, running in immense ledges, north- 
east, and south-west, often vertical, or highly in- 
clined in their position, and with a dip generally to 
the east, are principally mica slate, gneiss, clay 
slate, and chlorite slate. Mica slate is, far, the 
most abundant. In some of these schistose rocks, 

hornblende prevails, but I observed no granite in 
place. Granite, however, in loose rolled pieces, 
some of them weighing many tons, prevails for the 
last forty miles ; there is enough to build several cit- 
ies ; it is Very handsome, has a fine grain, the feldspar 
is white, the quartz grey, and the mica black, and it 
is used along the road as a building stone; but we 
can discern no source whence it was derived, nor 
could I learn that there were any Jixed rocks of the 
kind in this region. 

I am informed that the famous Chelmsford gran- 
ite so much used in Boston, as a building stone, 
and which this Vermont granite strongly resembles, 

* Now celebrated as the seat of Captairj Partridge's very useful 
and flourishing military and classical academy, the building for 
which, was in good progress at the time of my journey. 1824. 



416 TOUR BETWEEN HAllTFORD AND «iUEBEO, 

is found loose, like this, and that no quarry of it is 
known. 

In Vermont, these masses of granite have every 
appearance of having bsen brought down from nore 
elevated regions, for they are observed in deep val- 
lies, and on the banks, and in the beds of water 
courses, and on the declivities, and even high up on 
the sides of mountains. But they are rolied and 
rounded ; most of them approach the globular , 
form, and all have their angles and edges worn 
away. Was this done in the primitive < haotic 
ocean, which alone can afford time for such an 
agency, and may (hey not even have been trans- 
ported from a distant region, and scattered over a 
country to which tliey are strangers ? I 



HANOVER. 

Oct. 18. — This neat village, of about sixty hous- 
es, is an agreeable object to a traveller. It is built 
principally upon a small nollow square, which 
is a beautiful j^teen. Most of (he houses iire very 
good, and some are large and handsome, 'i'he great- 
er part are painted white, and have that lively ap- 
pearance, so common in the villages of New-Eng- 
land, y 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC, 4lT 



DARTMOUTH COLLEGE. 

This well known, and highly respectable and nse- 
ful institution, founded in 1769. by n yal charter, 
occupies one side of the square. The princi}3al 
building which is of wood, is one hundred and fifty 
feet by fifty, and three sto:ies high; it is pain(ed 
white. Besides thirty four private rooms for the 
students, it contains all the public rooms, except 
those for the medical lectures, and the ch tpel. — 
The latter is a sma 1 plain building, of wood, stand- 
ing in the position of a wing to thej college. The 
medical lectures are given in a separate edifice, built 
of brick, a little out of the square, and devoted en- 
tirely to medical purposes. The building is not 
large, but sufficient for a school of fifty or sixty pu- 
pils, who usually assemble here during the season 
of the lectures, which continues twelve weeks, from 
the first Wednesday of October. The building 
would receive more, so far as its public rooms are 
concerned. The anatomical museum is small. 

The number of medical profess.irs is, at present, 
three. There isth. same number* in the academi- 
cal establi>hment, who, with the president,-]- and two 
tutors, constitute the faculty. The number of stu- 
dents, at present, is about one hundred and fifty, and 

* If I am correctly informed, qdc other profesforship is at pres* 
ent vacant. 

t Argu^t, 1820 — This institution has recently been deprived, 
by deatli, of its excellent head, President Brown. 

36 



418 TOUB BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

since the termination of the recent contest, by which 
the old college has been confirmed in its powers, it 
appears to be flourishing more than before. During 
that contest, and while the buildings wer*^ in pos'^es- 
sion of the other parly, it is said that they were con- 
siderably injured : they are not now in the best 
state of repair, although it was stated that one ih-m- 
sand dollars had been expended upon them, since 
their restoration to their present possessors. 

The library contains about four thousand vol- 
umes. The apparatus of this institution is not the 
most extensive, but is competent to the most im- 
portant purposes of instruction. There are two 
libraries, of about two thousand volumes each, be- 
longing to private societies among the students. 

There is a separate building for commons, but, 
at present, none are maintained ; the students 
board in the village, and many of them occupy 
apartments in it. I was informed that it is op- 
tional with them to have rooms in college, or out; 
but their rooms are, in both cases, visited by the 
faculty, and, owing, without doubt, to the smallntss 
of the place, no inconvenience is experienced from 
the fact, that a part of them are in town.* 

* It is understootl that this Institution has flourished, and con- 
tinues to do so, under the Presidency of the Rev. Mr Tyler ; but 
I have no document at hand, from which to state the number of 
the students, or of the faculty. — 1824. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND Q,UBBEC. 419 



RIDE DOWN CONNECTICUT RIVER. 

Oct. 19. — We passed down the New-Hampshire 
aide of the river, eighteen miles, and then crossed 
into Vermont, at the beautiful town of Windsor, 
containing two thousand seven hundred fiftj-seven 
inhabitants.* 

There was nothing particularly interesting in the 
intervening country. Windsor is built upon two 
principal streets, parallel to each other, ar.d to the 
river, and, in the lower street, shews something of 
the bustle of business ; the upper street is very 
quiet, and both are ornamented by very handsome 
houses, many of them of brick, giving an air of dig- 
nity and elegance to a small town. There are also 
two handsome churches, a court-house, an acade- 
my, and a state's prison. 

The town has a magnificent back ground, in the 
high mountain Ascutney, measusing three thousand 
three hundred and twenty feet above the sea, and 
two thousand nine hundred and three, above the 
surface of the river.f The form of the mountain is 
handsome, and presents naked rocks at its summit. 

Fiom Windsor, we passed down the Vermont 
side of the river, to Charlestown, where we again 
crossed into New-Hampshire. 

* Worcester's Gazetteer. 

t According to Captain Partridge's measurement. 



420 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFOIlD AND qUfiBEC. 

We saw, on our ride, the establisment of Mr. 
Jarvis, formerly a consul abroad. He has a very 
extensive farm, and an entire village, named Weth- 
ersfield, is owned by him, and occupied by his ten- 
ants. We passed the night at Charlestown. 

This is another village remarkable for beauty. 
It is built upon one street, which is very wide, and, 
for nearly a mile, the houses are placed at distan- 
ces, convenient both for neighborhood and accom- 
modation. 

Here, a? at Windsor, a large proportion are very 
handsome, and there is an extreme degree of neat- 
ness in the fields, gardens, and door yards. The 
verdure being still fine, notwithstanding the period 
of the year, was charmingly contrasted with the 
brilliant white of the houses. 

From Hanover to this place, the river Connecti- 
cut flows in a narrow channel, in most places so 
confined by very high ground, and sometimes by 
mountains, that it seems to run in the only possible 
place, and the channel appears as if it had been 
cut by art, and laid with exquisite skill, through an 
an almost impervious counlry. Rarely do the pre- 
cipitous banks retire, so as to leave any meadows, 
or flat lands upon the border, and the country ap- 
pears not remarkably fertile. The pines still oc- 
cupy a considerable portion of it, but most of the 
large ones are cut away ; here and there an ancient 
tree still raises its head to the winds, and towers 
above its compeers. In many parts of this region, 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUElBEC. 421 

k^ery formidable fences are made by pulling up the 
stumps of the gigantic pine trees, and arranging 
them in a row, with their roots interlocked. 



GEOLOGY. 

The geology of this district is very simple. At 
Hanover, the rocks appear to be a variety of gneiss, 
evith so large a proportion of hornblende, as to be- 
;ome almost hornblende slate; and doubtless, in 
some instances, they become decidedly that rock; 
iistinct veins of crystallized hornblende intersect 
the rock, and it abounds in garnets remarkable for 
beauty ; their angles are extremely well defined — 
their surfaces highly polished, and their color al- 
most as fine as that of the Spinelle Ruby. I have 
seen no such garnets, from the rocks of this coun- 
try. 

From Hanover, we pass along in the direction of 
the ledges of rocks, which form the hills bounding 
the river ; we no longer cross them, as in travelling 
aver the Green Mountains, and it is not always 
easy, in driving rapidly by, or with the opportunity 
of only a very hasty examination, to pronounce con- 
fidently on their nature. 

This may, however, be said, without hazard, that 
they are all primitive slaty rocks, generally highly 
inclined, or vertical. 



36 



* 



422 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Leaving Charlestown, we passed by its rich and 
extensive meadows, commencing just below the 
town, and extending nearly to Bellows Falls, a dis- 
tance of eight miles. They were still very verdant, 
and rich in herds of fine cattle. 



BELLOWS FALLS. 

This place is worth visiting, both for its bold and 
pictures(jue scenery, and for the interesting nature 
of its mineralogy and geology. 

On approaching Bellows Falls from the north, 
the traveller is first struck by the elegant appear- 
ance of the small village of Rockingham, situated 
on the Vermont side of the river, upon ground 
pleasantly elevated. A neat church, semi-gothic, 
and several seats of gentry, who have clustered 
about these falls, are finely contrasted with the 
wildness and rudeness of the surrounding scenery. 
On the New Hnmpshire side, a very high ridge of 
mountain rock, I presume five or six hundred feet 
above tlie level of the river, forms its immt'diate 
barrier, there being only just room for a narrow 
road between it and the Connecticut. Immediate- 
ly at the foot of this frowning and impending moun- 
tain, is an elegant establishment, belonging to a 
gentleman who seems not to feel what every ob- 
server must dread, that his house may be crushed 
by falling rocks. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 423 

Bi;Uows Falls are very much unlike any thing of 
the kind which we have seen on our journey. They 
are rather a grand and violent rapid than a cataract, 
properly so called ; for, in no place that I saw, did 
the waterfall perpendicularly for any great distance. 
The river is, at this place, very much compressed 
between ledges of rocks, and, for nearly a quarter 
of a mile, it is hurried on with vast rapidity, and 
tumult, and roaring. In the whole, it falls fifty 
feet,* before it becomes again placid. 

The bridge, which stands immediately over the 
falls, and at the most rapid, that is to say, at the 
narrowest place, is a handsome object. Its founda- 
tion is literally a rock, for it is erected not only 
upon the precipices which form the banks, but up- 
on the very ledges which interrupt the course of 
the river, and rise calmly out of the turbulent scene 
that surrounds them. This is said to have been 
the earliest bridge erected over the Connecticut, 
and the view of the falls from it is very interesting. 

The water, which for some way above, comes 
rushing over, and among very rugged rocks, arrives 
in an extremely agitated state at the bridge, under 
which is the grand pass ; for the stream is here 
narrowed into the width of apparently twenty or 
thirty foet, and rushes through with great rapidity ; 
not, however, in the compressed state described 

* Worcester's Gazetteer. 



124 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

by the apocryphal historian of Connecticut.* 
It is all foam, and both immediately above and be- 
low the bridge, resembles the most violent breaking 
of the waves of the ocean, when dashed upon the 
rocks by a furious tempest. A little below the 
bridge, the river is again hurried on, between two 
salient points of rock, in a place so narrow, that 
one may easily toss a stone to the other side; 
the angry surges here struggle through with vast 
commotion, and rise, in white crested waves, the 
very sight of which makes one's head giddy. 

Bellows Falls, as a piece of scenery, are peculiar, 
on account of a certain snugness, which marks the 
entire collection of mountains, rocks, and river-tor- 
rent, and handsome houses, which are all approach- 
ed without the slightest inconvenience, and are 
comprised within a very small compass. On the 
west side there is a canal half a mile long, around 
the falls ; it has nine locks. 



GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 

The rocks at this pass are sienite, mica slatC; and 
a peculiar aggregate of mica and feldspar, very 
much resembling sienite. The strata run in the 
same direction as the great mountain ranges in the 
vicinity, only they are very low; the torrent ap- 

* Peters : who says that the water is here so dense that it ean- 
flot be pierced by a crowbar. 



TOUR BETWEEN UARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 425 

[)ears as if it had once broken through, and very 
possibly there might, anciently, have been a lake 
above this place. 

I would strongly recommend a particular exam- 
ination of the rocks about Bellows Falls. The few 
moments which I had to spend, I occupied in in- 
specting the ledges on the Vermont side, and below 
the bridge. They appear to be sometimes over- 
flowed, for they contain numerous excavations, evi- 
dently worn by the water, agitating the pebbles and 
stones, and, as long as the floods last, whirling them 
ivith incessant motion. Numbers ©f these cavities, 
3oth here and at the bridge, are of considerable di- 
'nensions; some are cylindrical, others are shaped 
like cauldrons, and are large enough to serve for 
ihat purpose. 

In the rocks alluded to, there are numerous veins, 
some of them a foot wide or more. The veins are 
quartz or feldspar, or more frequently, they are 
proper granite veins. In them I observed violet or 
'ose coloured mica, and that of a straw yellow; 
eldspar resembling the adularia ; garnet; tourma- 
in both the common black schorl, and the indico- 
ite, and talc. In loose rocks there was also abun- 
iance of tremolite and of sappar. There can be 
ittle doubt that a few blasts of gunpowder would 
mcover fine fresh specimens of these interesting 
Tiinerals. 



* 



II, 



426 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC!. 

From Bellows Falls, we passed down to Walpole* 
This is another handsome village ; some of the 
houses are splendid. 

Putney, on the Vermont side, presented nothing 
particularly interesting. 

We reached Brattleborough, at evening, and 
there passed the night. 

In Dummerston I saw a great slate quarry : the 
strata were vertical, and the excavation was like a 
deep canal, so that as I walked into it. the perpen- 
dicular strata formed a perfect wall on both sides, 
and I trod on their edges. It was a fine example 
of primitive roofing slate ; and from this place and 
the vicinity, at Brattleborough, &c. it is extensively 
quarried, and carried down the river. 

In speaking of the villages on Connecticut river, 
I often use the epithets beautiful, handsome, &;c. till 
they are in danger of becoming trite. Still I must 
repeat them with respect to the eastern* village of 
Brattleborough. 

This village is built principally upon one street, 
and contains very few houses or shops that are not 
an ornament to the place. The street is parallel to 
the river, and passes through luxuriant meadows, 
spreading into an extensive champaign, bounded 
by the Connecticut, which here, for miles, washes 
the base of a grand mountain barrier, that limits the 
yiew on the east. This view was best seen in re- 
trospect, as we rose the hill, at the south end of the 

* The other village I did not see. 



TOUR BEtWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 427 

town. Thence we saw this mountain-range, prob- 
ably here one thousand* feet high, covered with the 
richest drapery of the forest, and stretching away 
to the north, while the Connecticut, gently washed 
its foot, and the pretty village, with its white houses 
and brilliant church, rose in the midst of a rich 
meadow. 

But, the most interesting object in Brattleborough, 
is its venerable pastor, with whom, at his pleasant 
rural abode, we had the honour of an evening inter- 
new. At the age of 75, he has recently return- 
ed from England, his native country, alter a visit of 
eighteen months. He had been absent from Eng- 
land twenty-five years, and found on returning to 
bis native town, which, (except occasional visits,) 
lie left sixty- three years since, that but one person 
remembered him. Even the monuments of his co- 
temporaries in the grave yard, were so moss grown, 
:hat he could not read the inscriptions, and those of 
the persons who had died more recently, he did not 
inow. He found, however, many friends in vari- 
)us parts of England, who remembered him with 
iffection. The country appeared to him greatly 
improved, and to exhibit the most decided proofs of 
I thriving condition ; but his adopted country he 
greatly prefers, and gladly returned to end his days 
n it. 

The venerable man, at once an instructive and 
ielightful Mentor, entertained us with many of the 

* This is a conjecture merely : I know not ©f any measurement. 



426 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

From Bellows Falls, we passed down to Walpole' 
This is another handsome village ; some of the 
houses are splendid. 

Putney, on the Vermont side, presented nothing 
particularly interesting. 

We reached Brattleborough, at .evening, and 
there passed the night. 

In Dummerston I saw a great slate quarry : the 
strata were vertical, and the excavation was like a 
deep canal, so that as I walked into it. the perpen- 
dicular strata formed a perfect wall on both sides, 
and 1 trod on their edges. It was a fine example 
of primitive roofing slate ; and from this place and 
the vicinity, at Brattleborough, &c. it is extensively 
quarried, and carried down the river. 

In speaking of the villages on Connecticut river, 
I often use the epithets beautiful, handsome, &;c. till 
they are in danger of becoming trite. Still I must 
repeat them with respect to the eastern* village of 
Brattleborough. 

This village is built principally upon one street, 
and contains very few houses or shops that are not 
an ornament to the place. The street is parallel to 
the river, and passes through luxuriant meadows, 
spreading into an extensive champaign, bounded 
by the Connecticut, which here, for miles, washes 
the base of a grand mountain barrier, that limits the 
Tiew on the east. This view was best seen in re- 
trospect, as we rose the hill, at the south end of the 

* The other village I did not see. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORR AND QUEBEC. 427 

town. Thence we saw this mountain-range, prob- 
ably here one thousand* feet high, covered with the 
richest drapery of the forest, and stretching away 
to the north, while the Connecticut, gently washed 
its foot, and the pretty village, with its white houses 
and brilliant church, rose in the midst of a rich 
meadow. 

But, the most interesting object in Brattleborough, 
is its venerable pastor, with whom, at his pleasant 
rural abode, we had the honour of an evening inter- 
view. At the age of 75, he has recently return- 
ed from England, his native country, aitera visit of 
eighteen months. He had been absent from Eng- 
land twenty-five years, and found on returning to 
his native town, which, (except occasional visits,) 
he left sixty- three years since, that but one person 
remembered him. Even the monuments of his co- 
temporaries in the grave yard, were so moss grown, 
that he could not read the inscriptions, and those of 
the persons who had died more recently, he did not 
know. He found, however, many friends in vari- 
ous parts of England, who remembered him with 
affection. The country appeared to him greatly 
improved, and to exhibit the most decided proofs of 
a thriving condition ; but his adopted country he 
greatly prefers, and gladly returned to end his days 
in it. 

The venerable man, at once an instructive and 
delightful Mentok, entertained us with many of the 

* This is a conjecture merely : I know not of any measurement. 



428 TOUR BETWEE^f HARTFORB AND qUEBEt . 

inci.lents of his tour, the relation of which was en* 
livened by the most interesting remarics. 

He is hke the aged oak, whose boughs are still 
adorned with leaves, and whose root is still firm in 
the ground, although it has endured the vicissitudes 
of many revolving summers and winters. 



* 



October, 21s/. — We left Brattleborough in the 
morning, and eleven miles below, crossed the bridge 
into Northfield, in Massachusetts. 

Northfield is a neat village, on a wide street situ- 
ated on a hill, but the houses are plain; the place 
had, however, an air of comfort and snugness. 



GEOLOGY, &c. 

In this street, a very interesting change was ob- 
served in the geology. Rocks occurred both loose 
and in place, composed of fragments : they were of 
every size, from a fool or even several feet in diam- 
eter, down to small grains. These fragments were 
evidently the ruins of primitive rocks ;^entire pie- 
ces of granite, with all its constituent parts distinct; 
of gneiss, mica slate, chlorite slate, common slate, 
&LC. were interspersed, and the cement which bound 
them together, was merely the same materials, re- 
duced to a finer state. These rocks are very in- 
structive. Coming immediately after the primitive 



TOUR BETWEBW HARTFORD AND QDEREC. 429 

country, and indeed in close connexion with it and 
being composed of fragments of primitive rocks 
confusedly jumbled together, they appear to lay 
strong claims to a traitsition character. 

Passing down through Norihfield into Montague, 
we came to extensive ranges of primitive rocks, 
chiefly gneiss ; but in them occurred great beds of 
granite, the first that I had seen in place on our 
whole journey. Primitive rocks continued to the 
upper lock of Miller's Falls : the canal here, is cut 
through a coarse conglomerate, composed of frag- 
ments of primitive rocks. 

The scenery at this place is handsome; and at 
the confluence of Miller's River with the Connecti- 
cut, the latter forms a great bow, and looks like a 
lake surrounded by high hills. 

Several miles below, we came to Miller's Falls. 
The river runs nearly north west, and is precipitated 
over the strata, which at this place cross the river, 
and form a natural dam. In the middle of the riv- 
er, the rocks rise so high that they form an island, 
and the torrent is therefore divided, as at Nifigara. 
Through the whole width, which is one thousand 
two hundred feet, there is an artificial dam of tim- 
ber, built upon the natural one. The fall thus be- 
comes thirty feet, and is very beautiful in its kind. 
It is in fact, a vast mill dam, and is said to be a very 
good miniature of Niagara. The whole scene is a 
a fine one, and was so different from either of the 

37 



430 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Other falls that we had seen, that it was an agreea- 
ble addition. 

The object of damming these falls, is to feed 
with water, the canal which is cut around them, and 
to render the current for three miles above, less rap- 
id. This canal is two miles long, and werode along. 
its bank, to its junction with the Connecticut. 

The rocks which form the natur.il dam at Miller's 
Falls, are composed of fragments of primitive rocks ; 
but generally these fragments are not large, rarely 
exceeding an inch or two in diameter, and general- 
ly smaller than that. The strata liave an inclination 
of forty five degrees, and have every mark of the 
earliest class of fragmented rocks. Are they not a 
variety of Greywacke .'* Their direction is nearly 
north-east and south-west. 



We crossed the Connecticut again, at the place 
where, by completing its great bend, it returns to 
its usual direction of north and south. 

We now arrived in the town of Greenfield, and 
on ascending the hill from the river, I saw, for t!ie 
first time, in this part of the country, trap rocks in 
place. They here constitute an extensive range, 
extremely well characterized, and, (agreeably to 
Mr. Hitchcock's excellent account of the geology 
of this vicinity,*) form, very nearly^ the northern 

* See American Journal of Science, vol. 1. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 431 

extremity of the great trap ranges, which com- 
mence at New-Haven and cross completely both 
the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut.* 

I'he fragmented rocks, which in nearly the whole 
of this range, lie beneath the trap, 1 here had the 
pleasure of seeing emerge, at a high angle of in- 
cliisation, and at a high elevation, on the side next 
to the village of Greenfield. 



From the hill in question, we had a fine view of 
this village, which stands principally on two inter- 
secting streets; has a number of handsome houses, 
and, for a country town, an uncommon proportion 
of brick buildings. Walpole also has a number, 
and Windsor a larger number than either. 

Greenfield stands two miles from Connecticut 
river, on a high plain, which declines gently to the 
west. It has handsome churches, a court-house, 
a jail, &.C. 



DEERFIELD. 

Just at evening, we drove over to Deerfield, a 
distance of three miles, through the most luxuriant 
and beautiful countrj, that we had any where seen 
in our whole journey. This country is the fine al- 

* The same that, in sketching the scenery in the middle re§;iou 
of Conuecticut, were described early in this volume. 



432 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND qUEBEG. 

luvial region, intersected bj the Deerfield river, 
and probably formed by it, as the alluvial countries 
on rivers generally appear to be. Even now, in 
the latter part of October, the grass is most vividly 
green, thickly matted, and rich as the shag of vel- 
vet. The remains of the crops of corn, evinced 
also great productiveness, and seemed almost t« 
realize the fables of the golden ages. 

We were comfortably lodged in a good inn, just 
in time to visit, before dark, a very interesting an- 
tiquity in this town. 

In the early periods of the history of the New- 
Englimd colonies, Deerfield, being for a long course 
of years, a frontier town, was very often attacked 
by the French and Indians from Canada, and its 
inhabitants were frequently slain, or carried into 
captivity. 

To guard against these attacks, an extensive fort 
was established, including withm its limits, many of 
the houses, and forming a place of retreat and of 
security for the inhabitants. 

In February, 1704, this fort was, by the negli- 
gence of the sentinel, surprised and taken, just be- 
fore day light, and the inhabitants were aroused 
from their slumbers, by the furious attacks of cruel 
enemies, upon their defenceless dwellings. Most 
of the houses were burnt, and their wretched ten- 
ants were either dragged away into captivity, or 
slaughterd in their own habitations, or near them. 
Men, women, and children, were indiscriminately 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 433 

slain, and parents saw their little ones butchered 
before their eyes. 

One house still remains, as a painful memento to 
posterity. The front door was hacked and hewn 
with hatchets, until the savages had cut a hole 
through it ; through this hole they fired into the 
house; this door, which still bears its ancient 
wounds, and the hole, (closed only by a board, 
tacked on within,) remains now, as the savages left 
it, and is a most interesting monument. 

Through the windows they also fired, and one 
bullet killed the female head of the family, sitting 
up in bed, and the mark of that bullet, as well as of 
four others, is visible in the room ; in one of the 
holes in a joist, another bullet remains to this day. 
This family was all killed, or carried into captivity. 

In the same attack, the clergyman of the place, 
the Rev. John Williams, and his family, shared a 
similar fate. Two of the children were killed at 
the door, Mrs. William?, their mother, in the mead- 
ows, a little way out of town, and Mr. Williams, 
and the rest of the family, were carried prisoners 
to Canada. 

We saw in the museum, in Deerfield academy, 
the pistol which he snapped at the Indians, when 
they rushed into his bed room. 

Mr. Williams* lived many years after his return, 
and I saw his grave, and that of his murdered wife. 

* The house of public worship, in which Mr. Williams used to 
preach, is still stauding ia Deerfield. 

37* 



434 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

On the latter, is a very proper inscription, which I 
regret that I omitted to copy. 



Deerfield is a plain venerable town, with good 
buildinjis, but not many of them are in the modern 
style; this circumstance is, however, rather pleas- 
ing, than otherwise. 

Deerfield extends about a mile on one street; it 
has a highly respectable academy, the finest mead- 
ows in New-England; and a very interesting ancient 
history, upon which I have no time to enlarge. 



Oct. 22.— We left Deerfield on a fine morning, 
and extended our ride thirty-eight miles, to Spring- 
field. We followed the Deerfield mountain — cross- 
ed the fatal, bloody (or, as it is now called, muddy,) 
brook, where, on the 12th of September, 1675, 
Captain Lathrop, with alniost his whole company, 
of ninety or an hundred young men, the flower of 
that region, was cut oflfby the Indians, who, to the 
number of seven or eight hundred, attacked them 
by surprize, when, as is said, most of the party 
were engaged in gathering grapes. 

We rode down to the ferry at Sunderland, to ob- 
tain a good view of the Sugar Loaf Mountain, 
which is so well described by Mr. Hitchcock,* that 

* American Journal of Science. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QtTEr.EC. 435 

I have scarcely occasion to remark, that it is com- 
posed of conglomerate rock, and that the mountain 
back of it is trap. 

We crossed through Hatfield, over to Hadley, 
and thence into Northampton, where we dined. — 
It is hardly necessary to say any thing of these 
scenes, which are so luxuriant, and so well known, 
that their beauty is quite proverbial. 

Hatfield and Hadley are neat and venerable pla- 
ces, and Northampton is one of the finest inland 
towns in America. 

The great bends of the river here — the bold 
scenery of Mount Holyoke, and Mount Tom, and 
the rich and grand landscape, from their summits, 
particularly from the former, have been often de- 
scribed, and can hardly be exaggerated. 

At West Springfield, we called on the venerable 
Dr. Lathrop, now almost eighty-eight years old ; 
he will complete that age, he informed us, on the 
last day of this month. His sight is almost extinct, 
but his other faculties appear unimpaired. He is 
erect and vigorous, walks well, and his features are 
not injured ; his head is covered with fine white 
locks, and his whole appearance is very interesting. 
He is recently relieved from public duty by a col- 
league ; and, after about sixty years of the most 
useful labors as a preacher, is well entitled to rest: 



436 TOUR BETWEEN HARTPORD AND QUEBEC. 

as a writer of sermons,* he has been excelled by 
few in this country f 

Oct. 2;?. — We passed the last night at Spring- 
field, which, in beauty, hardly yields to any town 
on the river. In the morning. 1 visited the United 
States' armory, and was murh gratified ; for order, 
neatness, and high excelloiice, in every department 
— nnder the able management of Colonel Lee, it 
merits the highest euiogium. 

We proceeded through Long Meadow to En- 
field, and, at the bridge, on the eastern side, I was 
pleased to observe the sand stone rocks, filled with 
the remains of vegetables, bituminized and carbon- 
ized, and affording one indication, among many, of 
a region containing coal, 'i'his, and the contiguous 
places, should be more attentively examined. 

Through Windsor, we proceeded to Hartford, 
and, arriving there before evening, almost five 
weeks from the time of our departure, found those 
in health and prosperity, who were most interesting 
tons; and, in the retros|)«'Cl, perceived much cause 
for satisfaction, and still more for gratitude, that, in 
travelling nearly twelve hundred miles, not one dis- 
aster, nor one serious disappointment, had given us 
occasion to regret the undertaking. 



* Allusion is here, of course, made to the volumes of sermons, 
which he has published. 

t This venerable minister of religion died on the 31st of De- 
cember, 1820, in the nmetietb year of his age. — (1824.) 



TOOR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 437 

REMARK. 

I have said very little of the public houses and 
accommodations on the journey. Should this be 
thought a deficiency, it is easily supplied ; for, we 
found them, almost without exception, so comfort- 
able, quiet and agreeable, that we had neither oc- 
casion nor inclination to find fault. 

Great civility, and a disposition to please their 
guests, were generally conspicuous at tlie inns ; 
almost every where, when we wished it, we found 
a private parlour and a separate table, and rarely, 
did we hear any profane or coarse language, or 
observe any rude and boisterous deportment. 



ADDENDA. 

1. Historical J^otices respecting the vicinity of the 
Lakes George and Champlain, and the Head Wa- 
ters of the Hudson. 

The following notices, received from a respect- 
ed friend, canne to hand too late for insertion in 
their proper places, in the body of the book. Be- 
lieving, however, that they may afford useful hints 
to travellers, I insert them here. A few things 
mentioned in this communication, will be found 
to be nearly in commou with some passages in the 
book, but I have, notwithstanding, inserted the 
whole. 



Between Glen's Falls and Lake George, and 
about five miles from the latter place, where an 
old French road passes, there is a rock of about 
three tons in weight, on which the Indians, during 
the French war, (as it is called,) burnt their pris- 
oners. The rock is split into three pieces, by fire. 

Four miles from Fort George, during the Revo- 
lutionary War, Colonel Warner, (celebrated in 
Vermont.) Major Hopkins and Lieutenant Coon, 
were shot at by Indians from behind a rock, when 
going from that fort to Fort Edward. The two last 
were killed. I saw the place where their bones 
were dug up about the year I8I0. Warner and 



bis horse were wounded. He rode offj but hi 



3 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 439 

horse failintj;, he mounted anolher, that had been 
rode by one of his coinpatiions and escaped. — 
The wounded horso. after following him to Glen's 
Falls, fell down dead. 

French Mountain is to the right as yon go to 
Lake George, and ai)out four miles from it. B.iron 
Dieskau, with two thousand three hundred men, 
landed at the head of South Bay, with a view to 
take Fort Edward. When he apiuodclied Sandy 
Hill, he gave up the expedition, and turned by 
French Mountain, (wh-ch is insulated fiom all 
others by Dunham's Bay,) in order to take Fort 
William Henry. Here he met and defeated a large 
detachment from that place, two and an half miles 
from it, and threw the killed into Bloody Pond. — 
He was afterwards repulsed. See Mante's Histo- 
ry of the war. 

One mile south of Fort George, you pass by 
Gage's Hill, on the right, and so called from Colo- 
nel Gage of the Provincials, being defeated here 
with considerable loss by the French. 

About a mile from T^ake George, I saw ancient 
lines of defence, for a covering army : ditches and 
cellars on commanding ground. A little further on 
to the right, and close to the Lake, arc the ditches, 
ramparts, k,c. of old Fort William Henry, and to 
the left, the plain where the massacre took place, 
after the fort was surrendered to Montcalm. 

There was a garrison of two British companies 
on Diamond Island, during some part of the Rev- 
olutionary W^ar. 



440 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

Frenchman's Point, sevenfeen miles from the 
head of Lake George, derives its names from a de- 
feat of the French during the war of 1756. 

Sabbath-Day Point is six miles from Ticondero- 
ga, and is so called from a massacre on that day 
by the Indians, after a battle. Here are the re- 
mains of two old buildings, or forts, judging from 
the excavations. Rogers' Rock is on the west side 
of the Lake, and four miles from its foot. Here 
the Lake narrows. It is named from a tradition 
which prevails, that the famous partizan Major 
Rogers ran down it, in order to avoid the close 
pursuit of the Indians, and effected his escape on 
the Lake by skates. This place affords a tine field 
for mineralogical investigation, and there is, near 
it, a den of rattlesnakes. 

On the east side of Lake George is Mount Defi- 
ance, a high mountain, celebrated for Burgoyne's 
drawing up his cannon there, and by that means he 
overlooked Ticonderoga, and drove our army from 
the fort. He landed one mile and a half above the 
ferry, on Lake Champlain, on the west side, and 
if he had taken the route of Lake George, his 
chance of success would have been much better. 
The Old French lines at Ticonderoga exhibit a 
strong work, extending from Lake Champlain to 
the outlet of Lake George, and face the north. 
Burgoyne built a block-house on Mount Defiance. 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 441 

A mile south of Fort Ann, on the east side of the 
rof'l IS the place where Putnam, after being cap- 
tured by the Indians and French, was tied up for 
burning, and when about to perish, he was relieved 
by a French officer, who, it is said, believed him 
to be a free mason. 

Fort Ann was a picketted work, and covered 
about an acre of ground. It is situated just above 
the junction of Wood Creek and Half-Way Brook. 
Wood Creek is navigable to this place, and Bur- 
goyne transported his heavy artillery to it by wa- 
ter. A little below the junction of Powlet River 
and Wood Creek, near the head of Lake Cham- 
plain, on the west side, is Putnam's Mount, from 
whence he repulsed a party of Indians, coming up 
in canoes. The stump of the tree from which he 
fired, is still pointed out. 

2. The people called Shakers. 

Some members of the society at New-Lebanon, 
and at Watervliet, having objected to certain pas- 
ages, in the first edition of this book, I have omitted 
them in the present. They were quoted from 
Thomas Brown's work, which had been strongly 
recommended to me as an authority, nor did I 
learn till more than a year after my book was pub- 
lished, that the Shakers denied the authenticity of 
Mr. Brown's account of their society. With the 
controversy between them, and this seceded mem- 
ber, and with the question as to the authenticity 

38 



442 TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 

and fairness of his account, I have now no con- 
cern •, — nor do I mean, even to imply an opinion 
on this subject, while I suppress my citations from 
him. When 1 cited this work, I fully believed it 
to be authentic; — but I should consider it as unfair 
and unkind, to continue to quote it, after 1 have 
been informed that the society of which the author 
once was a member, deny his authenticity. Had 
my time permitted me to mingle with their commu- 
nity, I should have avoided this error, and should 
probably have learned that there are works ac- 
knowledged by the society, and published with 
their knowledge and approbation. At the time, 
I did not know this fact, but have since been put 
by them, in possession of Dunlavy's Manifesto — 
Christ's second appearing and the Summary 
View, and 1 am informed by them, that an article 
recently published by the Rev. Mr. Benedict, in his 
View of all Religions is authentic. Being de- 
sirous to do them justice, and neither my health nor 
time permitting me to make a digest from their 
books, I requested them to prepare for me, a short 
article, on their faith and polity, to be inserted in 
the present edition of this book. This request was 
complied with, by two intelligent members, who 
furnished me with a well digested manuscript arti- 
cle, but it arrived too late — that part of the book to 
which it belonged, being already printed I thought 
of inserting it in an appendix but, although much 
condensed, it was still rather long for a small book 



TOUR BETWEEN HARTFORD AND QUEBEC. 443 

of travels, and it appeared (as the authors intimated 
in their letter accompanying it,) better adapted to a 
professedly religious, than a common popular 
work. I have therefore communcated it to the 
Editor of a very respectable Religious Miscellany,* 
in which it will obtain an extensive circulation 
among a class of readers who will be desirous to 
receive correct information respecting a subject so 
little understood. 1 trust that this book now con- 
tains nothing, in point of fact, whicli the Shakers 
will pronounce incorrect — my opinion of their celib- 
<icy remains unchanged; and 1 was not willing to 
modify the expression of my views on that topic; 
there we must remain, amicai/^, I trust, af varianec. 

* The Christain Spectator, published at New-Haven ; this 
piece will appear in the Number tor July, 1824. I gave the 
Editor leave to omit a few passages, and to abridge a few 
others, (agreeably to the permission of the authors,) care being 
taken to preserve the sense, and the order of connexion of the 
parts. 



''>-»^i. 



^y 







G°' 


^o 


0^ 




.^' 





^T<s:^^ 



« <p^ 









0' 









^^. 




r"^% 



,0 o^ ■> 



^ . /-^- ■ ^^ ,o) 



A 



-^- 






r- 


V 










> 










■%^ 


\ 1 


" ,< 




■■> 


>. 








-■ 


■'■o 


0^' 


C 






^^ ''''^. 






x-^- 












■^/- ^ 



o 






\ 






.-^^ 



^^^. v^ 



>. ^c. 



•^^ 









c 



o 


0^ 






>^' 


^^. 


^ 


(- 






r^ 


* 


^^ ^ 


"/ 


"> 




A'^s 




r- 


•>•, 




'^. 






v*^ 



•A 









\ 



,0 0^ 



^.1 



, s ^ ^S-'' 



» 



V ^ 



"</C,^ 



% 









' ',0 



fp- .^ 



.N 



-vA- 













\0 <^^ i^ • 



c- ^ 



^> 



>V.o 



-^° .> .s 



.> 



_T^i s, « <■ / '^^ 









7- 

o 



■^^ \ 



'^- '^o\\^ ^,0' 



V^ 



a 0^ 






V '^'',' 



^ 






0' 












1 f 



yt' 



cS: 












^." * » < ^ " ^-^v 



,o' 






■V 



o 



l~ * 






:^' ^.>^:^. 



■^ t 



«■"<?. 















"%:*•' 









■^ 






O^ * n K, ^ v"ir 



3 N 






\' < 






.^ -^c.. 












v-^' 



'?^ 



5o^ 



"V 












xO<3. 



A\' 



%/* 



•,ri 



tr/.'* ■■ . 1 . .in 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




DDDnD5^37t. 



